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HBO's 'Succession' Sets Viewer Mark for Fourth-Season Start

Brian Cox attends the premiere of HBO's "Succession" season four at Jazz at Lincoln Center on Monday, March 20, 2023, in New York. (AP)
Brian Cox attends the premiere of HBO's "Succession" season four at Jazz at Lincoln Center on Monday, March 20, 2023, in New York. (AP)
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HBO's 'Succession' Sets Viewer Mark for Fourth-Season Start

Brian Cox attends the premiere of HBO's "Succession" season four at Jazz at Lincoln Center on Monday, March 20, 2023, in New York. (AP)
Brian Cox attends the premiere of HBO's "Succession" season four at Jazz at Lincoln Center on Monday, March 20, 2023, in New York. (AP)

HBO's “Succession” opened its fourth and final season with a record first-night audience of 2.3 million viewers, the Nielsen company said on Tuesday.

That tops the previous high for the drama about a backbiting family of media moguls. It beat the 1.7 million who watched last season's finale the first night it was available, Nielsen said.

For HBO, the first-night audience is usually only a fraction of the number of people who will watch one of their shows. For example, each episode last season averaged 7.2 million viewers when delayed viewing is taken into account.

The numbers indicate that more people are catching on to the two-time Emmy winner for best drama just as it is approaching the end. There was anticipation for the season premiere, with HBO saying there was four times the viewership of previous “Succession” episodes on HBO Max last week compared to the week before.

The first episode showed how much things are strained between family patriarch Logan Roy and three of his four children, critic Brian Lowry wrote for CNN.

“There was a lot going on in this season opener, but the premiere's primary function involved setting the stage for the battles and challenges to come,” Lowry wrote.

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Now Playing in Movie Theaters: 73 Minutes of Cat Videos, for a Good Cause

This image released by Oscilloscope Laboratories shows promotional art for Cat Video Fest 2025. (Oscilloscope Laboratories via AP)
This image released by Oscilloscope Laboratories shows promotional art for Cat Video Fest 2025. (Oscilloscope Laboratories via AP)
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Now Playing in Movie Theaters: 73 Minutes of Cat Videos, for a Good Cause

This image released by Oscilloscope Laboratories shows promotional art for Cat Video Fest 2025. (Oscilloscope Laboratories via AP)
This image released by Oscilloscope Laboratories shows promotional art for Cat Video Fest 2025. (Oscilloscope Laboratories via AP)

The best of the internet’s cat videos are coming to the big screen this weekend. Cat Video Fest is a 73-minute, G-rated selection of all things feline —silly, cuddly, sentimental and comedic—that’s playing in more than 500 independent theaters in the US and Canada.

A portion of ticket proceeds benefit cat-focused charities, shelters and animal welfare organization. Since 2019, it’s raised over $1 million.

The videos are curated by Will Braden, the Seattle-based creator of the comedically existential shorts, Henri, le Chat Noir. His business cards read: “I watch cat videos.” And it’s not a joke or an exaggeration. Braden watches thousands of hours of internet videos to make the annual compilation.

“I want to show how broad the idea of a cat video can be so there’s animated things, music videos, little mini documentaries,” Braden said. “It isn’t all just, what I call, ‘America’s Funniest Home Cat Videos.’ It’s not all cats falling into a bathtub. That would get exhausting.”

Now in its eighth year, Cat Video Fest is bigger than ever, with a global presence that’s already extended to the UK and Denmark, and, for the first time, to France, Spain, Japan and Brazil. Last year, the screenings made over $1 million at the box office.

In the early days, it was a bit of a process trying to convince independent movie theaters to program Cat Video Fest. But Braden, and indie distributor Oscilloscope Laboratories, have found that one year is all it takes to get past that hurdle.

“Everywhere that does it wants to do it again,” Braden said.

Current theatrical partners include Alamo Drafthouse, IFC Center, Nitehawk, Vidiots, Laemmle and Music Box. The screenings attract all variety of audiences, from kids and cat ladies to hipsters and grandparents and everyone in between.

“It’s one of the only things, maybe besides a Pixar movie or Taylor Swift concert, that just appeals to everybody,” Braden said.

And the plan is to keep going.

“We’re not going to run out of cat videos and we’re not going to run out of people who want to see it,” Braden said. “All I have to do is make sure that it’s really funny and entertaining every year.”