Under the Dome Recap And Videos: New TV Series Proves to be Early Ratings Leader during Series Premiere

The highly anticipated Stephen King series "Under the Dome" gathered a huge viewer turnout during its premiere last Monday on CBS.

According to the LA Times, ratings agency Nielsen counted 13.14 million viewers tuning into CBS' new offering, giving CBS high viewership for a premier similar to that of "2000 Malibu Road" in 1992.

The miniseries promises to be a thrilling show about a small town trapped under a mysterious transparent dome with an unknown source. The story is based on a novel written by Stephen King in which he also acts as the executive producer for the miniseries, along with Brian K. Vaughan, who wrote several seasons of hit series "Lost."

The show's premiere breaks a tradition of introducing reality series during summer.

The LA Times had earlier reported that normally, TV networks would not spend as much during summers as regular seasons since there are fewer viewers. However, with the Nielsen ratings, it would seem that "Under the Dome" goes alongside regular season premieres in terms of viewership.

The CBS series reportedly costs around $3 million per episode, with the network selling the rights to the series to Amazon at amounts reaching six figures.

With the buzz being created by the new series, more viewers are being expected in the next few weeks which will add to its ratings.

"Under the Dome" is seen to be a brave move of producing series during the low summer viewership, prompting the LA Times to speculate that this could create a trend for summer programming.

CBS takes this risk during a time when cable networks such as AMC, Showtime, and FX have taken viewers of networks such as CBS, Fox, and NBC into their own acclaimed shows.

"We were looking for the ability to put on more original programming because things were getting a little quiet during the summer, and we had to look for new models to do that," CBS Corp. Chief Executive Leslie Moonves told Wall Street analysts last month, the LA Times reported.

To watch the series premiere of 'Under the Dome,' click here.