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Ratings: Salem Opens Big; Orphan Black Return Still Small

For a brand new series on a mysterious network, WGN America's Salem pulled in some pretty surprising numbers Sunday. The Shane West-led series set during the historic witch trials drew...

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Kaitlin Thomas

For a brand new series on a mysterious network, WGN America's Salem pulled in some pretty surprising numbers Sunday.

The Shane West-led series set during the historic witch trials drew 2.3 million total viewers over four combined telecasts. The premiere broadcast at 10/9c pulled in 1.5 million viewers, and 647,000 adults in the 18-49 demographic. The network covers only 62.3 percent of the U.S. and is available in just 72 million homes. The use of witchcraft has not yet been ruled out as an explanation for these numbers.

Wigs, War and Witches! Shane West talks new WGN America series Salem

BBC America's sci-fi series Orphan Black, which stars Tatiana Maslany (and Tatiana Maslany, Tatiana Maslany, Tatiana Maslany, and Tatiana Maslany) didn't perform nearly as well in comparison. 

Saturday's Season 2 premiere only recorded 785,000 total viewers when replays are factored in. The original telecast brought in 620,000 total viewers and 391,000 in the 18-49 demo. That's a 97 percent increase in the adult 18-49 demo and doubles the Season 1 average, but proves that even with all the critical praise, Orphan Black remains a cult series and did not rocket into widespread popularity upon its return as fans hoped it would.

Alt TV: Offbeat shows you should be watching

Elsewhere on cable, ratings for FX's Fargo were not quite as modest as originally reported last week. It jumped 68 percent from 2.65 million to 4.46 million viewers once the time-shifted Live+3 day viewings were recorded. In multi-telecast viewings, the numbers rose to 6.38 million total viewers, up from 4.15 million on Live+Same Day.

Did you check out Salem or Orphan Black this weekend?