Starz's BLACK SAILS Premieres to 2.6 Million Total Viewers

"Black Sails" has become the most widely watched new series debut in the history of Starz original programming, following its opening weekend on Saturday, January 25.

More than 2.6 Million viewers watched the series premiere Live+Same Day (Live+SD) during its opening weekend on the network's linear channels

· Surpassed "The White Queen" premiere weekend (approximately 2.6 Million viewers), which had been the highest new series/miniseries premiere to-date, making this the highest Starz series premiere weekend ever

· Nearly 1.7 Million Live+SD total viewers watched the combined Saturday telecasts, making this the best Starz new series premiere night ever

· Nearly 850,000 Live+SD viewers for series premiere at 9PM ET/PT

Additionally, Starz launched a wide, week-long sampling campaign with strong results to date:

· Early reporting of on-demand, online platforms and affiliate linear airings yielded an additional 900,000 viewers to-date and thus 3.5 million viewers and counting

*Viewership for additional multiplex repeats, extended DVR, and complete Starz ON DEMAND, Free On Demand, Starz PLAY, and other online platforms are not included. More results available later this week.

(SOURCES: Nielsen Npower P2+ Live+SD data. Sampling results based on internal estimates of subscription and free On Demand, on-line as well as affiliate linear viewing. Subject to further qualifications available upon request.)

New episodes of "Black Sails" air 9PM ET/PT exclusively on STARZ.

The eight-episode first season of "Black Sails" centers on the tales of Captain Flint (Toby Stephens) and his men, and takes place twenty years prior to Robert Louis Stevenson's classic "Treasure Island." "Black Sails" is executive produced by Michael Bay (Transformers, Armageddon, Pearl Harbor) and his Platinum Dunes partners Brad Fuller and Andrew Form (The Purge, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles). The series was created by showrunner and executive producer Jonathan Steinberg (creator "Jericho," "Human Target") and co-executive producer Robert Levine ("Touch"). Production began on the 10-episode second season at Cape Town Studios in Cape Town, South Africa in November.