UPDATE: FX’s ‘The Americans’ Season 2 Debut Jumps 81% In Live+3 Viewing

UPDATE, 12:15 PM: Live+3 Day time-shifted viewing for the Season 2 premiere episode of FX‘s The Americans was significantly higher than that of its series premiere episode and was also the highest Live+3 percentage increase for a second season debut of any FX drama series by a wide margin. Compared to its Live+Same Day delivery, Americans’ second season debut episode vaulted 81% in adults 18-49 (1.57 million, up from 863,000) and 72% in overall audience (3.26 million, from 1.9 million). For comparison sake, last year the series’ unveiling climbed 48% in demo and 44% in total viewers when Live+3 was factored in.

PREVIOUS, FEBRUARY 27, PM: The Cold War returned with a chill last night on FX’s The Americans. The 10 PM Season 2 debut of the suburban spy drama drew just 1.9 million viewers. That’s down a hard 41% from the 3.22 million viewers the Emmy-nominated series got in its 10-11:38 PM debut on January 30 last year. The Season 1 premiere last year drew 1.57 million viewers in the 18-49 demographic and a total viewership of 4.7 million over its debut and two repeats that night. With 863,000 viewers in the key demo Wednesday, the Season 2 debut was down 45% from it Season 1 opener. Despite the apples-to-apples double digit decline, FX points out that last night was actually up a slight 2% in total viewers from the 1.85 million viewers Season 1 had on average and down just 2% in the demo from the first cycle’s average. And then there’s the DVR factor: Americans’ Season 1 premiere had a 49% DVR increase in adults 18-49 and a 44% increase among total viewership.

Related: ‘The Americans’ At NY PaleyFest: Suspicions, Family Secrets & Series Creator’s CIA Regrets< Renewed for 13 more episodes by FX just four weeks into its first season, Americans stars Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell as two sleeper KGB spies posing as an American married couple with two kids in suburban Washington D.C. during the first years of Ronald Reagan’s presidency. Former CIA agent and Falling Skies scribe Joe Weisberg created the series and exec produces with Joel Fields, Graham Yost and Amblin TV’s Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank for Fox TV Studios and FX Prods.