THE HANDMAID’S TALE Lands #1 on Bravo and Becomes the Network’s Most-Watched Series Premiere in Five Years

“..prestige television at its most substantive.” – Tony Wong, The Toronto Star “…what is startlingly magical about the series is the formidable contrast between the bleakness of the material and the opulence of the treatment.” – John Doyle, The Globe & Mail TORONTO (May 5, 2017) – The television event of the year did not disappoint Sunday when THE HANDMAID’S TALE debuted to massive audiences and critical acclaim on Bravo. With three days of preliminary data now available for the series debut, Numeris data confirms that at least 716,000 viewers have watched the April 30 premiere episode. With final playback data still to come, THE HANDMAID’S TALE becomes the most-watched series premiere in five years on Bravo, and the second-most watched ever on the network. It’s the biggest debut of any scripted series on Canadian Entertainment Specialty this broadcast season. Winning Sunday as the most-watched television program on Canadian Entertainment Specialty television, the two-episode debut delivered an average audience of 651,000 for both Episodes 1 and 2 from 9-11 p.m. THE HANDMAID’S TALE is now:

• the most-watched series of the year on Bravo
• the most-watched new series of the year on Canadian Entertainment Specialty
• and a Top 3 series overall on Canadian Entertainment Specialty

As announced earlier this week, the one-hour drama has been renewed for a second season to premiere on Bravo in 2018. Viewers who missed the stunning first two episodes can tune into an encore broadcast this Saturday, May 6 with Episode 1 airing at 9 p.m. ET/10 p.m. PT, and Episode 2 at 10:15 p.m. ET/11:15 p.m. PT. In the upcoming all-new Episode 3, “Late,” (Sunday, May 7 at 9 p.m. ET/10 p.m. PT), Offred visits Janine’s baby with Serena Joy and remembers the early days of the revolution before Gilead. Ofglen faces a difficult challenge. The entire first season of THE HANDMAID’S TALE launches on CraveTV following the season finale on Bravo. A television adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s iconic dystopian novel, the series stars Elisabeth Moss as Offred, Joseph Fiennes (American Horror Story: Asylum, Shakespeare In Love) as Commander Waterford, Samira Wiley (Orange is the New Black) as Moira, Max Minghella (The Mindy Project) as Nick,  Yvonne Strahovski (Chuck, Dexter) as the Commander’s his wife Serena Joy, O.T. Fagbenle (The Five) as Luke, Alexis Bledel (Gilmore Girls) as Ofglen, Madeline Brewer (Orange is the New Black) as Janine, and Ann Dowd (Compliance, The Leftovers) as Aunt Lydia. Margaret Atwood, the author of the classic 1985 novel The Handmaid’s Tale from which the series has been adapted, is a consulting producer. Filmed in Toronto, the 10-part series was created for television by Bruce Miller (THE 100) who serves as the series’ showrunner.  Executive Producers are Miller, Warren Littlefield (FARGO), Daniel Wilson, Fran Sears and Illene Chaiken. THE HANDMAID’S TALE is produced by MGM Television and internationally distributed by MGM.