The season opener of the FX anthology series dropped 17 percent from the previous year.

American Horror Story: Cult's debut episode was down from last season's premiere of the FX anthology series from Ryan Murphy.

On Sept. 5, the show pulled 3.93 million viewers and a 2.02 rating among adults 18 to 49. That number marks a 24 percent drop from the total number of viewers that tuned in to the Sept. 14, 2016, premiere of American Horror Story: Roanoke. In the key demo, the rating dipped by 29 percent.

Still, the episode was the highest-rated in cable and the second-highest-rated original series on TV that night, following NBC's America's Got Talent.

With three days of delayed viewing factored in across linear and non-linear (i.e. streaming) platforms, 9.01 million viewers tuned in for the seventh season premiere. That makes the premiere of American Horror Story: Cult the second most-watch basic cable program of 2017 behind only The Walking Dead on AMC.

However, that number still puts Cult 17 percent lower than Roanoke, which drew more 10.9 million viewers for its opener. That's also a drop from the 12.17 million that tuned in for the launch of American Horror Story: Hotel.

In terms of live-plus-same-day viewers, the season seven premiere is the least-watched American Horror Story opener since the premiere of Asylum on Oct. 17, 2012, which only drew 3.85 million viewers. The anthology hit its lowest number of viewers for a premiere with 2011's Murder House, with just 3.18 million viewers.

Sept. 12, 1 p.m.: Updated with live-plus-three numbers.