‘Sons of Anarchy’ Season 6 premiere hits series-high ratings

“Sons of Anarchy” returned Tuesday night and promptly revved up another ratings record.

The Season 6 premiere of FX’s motorcycle-gang drama -- a controversial episode that included a school shooting -- delivered 5.9 million total viewers, according to Nielsen. That’s the largest audience in the history of the series and a 9% jump compared with last season’s rollout.

Including encore telecasts, the Tuesday total rose to 8.1 million.

What’s more, “SOA” beat everything on the broadcast networks among the critical adults ages 18 to 49 demographic, with a 3.1 rating. True, the legacy networks are still finishing summer programs, but the “SOA” numbers are impressive regardless.

What did you think of the premiere?

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