The Flash Premiere is Now The CW's Most-Watched Telecast Ever

In spite of having leaked online months in advance of its premiere, the pilot episode for The CW's The Flash was the most-watched telecast in The CW's history, according to numbers released by the network.

The show performed remarkably well in the initial overnight ratings, with estimates placing it as the top-rated CW premiere in five years at the time; it then became the most-watched premiere ever when those numbers were adjusted up after the Live +3 Day numbers came in later that week.

The Live +7 Day numbers weren't released officially until yesterday, when The CW announced that 6.8 million viewers watched The Flash in its initial airing, surpassing the 6.68 million that was The CW's previous record (America's Next Top Model's Season 2007 season finale).

Variety reports that across all platforms, including initiated streams on digital platforms and total unduplicated viewers on-air over two airings the week of October 7, the premiere was seen more than 13 million times.

The series held up surprisingly well week-to-week, as well, retaining about 88% of its audience according to same-day and L3 numbers for the second episode.

The success of The Flash has already led to the series receiving its back nine order. The CW will roll out its third DC Comics adaptation, iZombie, based on the Chris Roberson-Mike Allred Vertigo series of the same name, in early 2015. So far, the network has been on fire this year, with both The Flash and the telenovela adaptation Jane the Virgin among the year's best-reviewed new shows.