‘The Bridge’ premiere audience about the same as ‘The Americans’

The premiere episode of FX’s latest drama series, “The Bridge,” grabbed an audience of 4.12 million viewers during its first two airings on Wednesday night. That is almost the same size of an audience that tuned into watch the cable channel’s last dramatic series premiere, “The Americans,” which had an audience of 4.23 million when it debuted in January.

The first airing of “The Bridge” had a viewership of 3.04 million, with an additional 1.16 million watching the encore airing that immediately followed.

The series stars Demián Bichir and Diane Kruger as Mexican and American police detectives, respectively, who must team up to catch a serial killer who is claiming victims on both sides of the Mexico-America border. It’s based on a Scandanavian TV series, much like “The Killing” was adapted from a Danish series.

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The series enjoyed mostly favorable reviews, with The Times’ Robert Lloyd stating, “It has its good points and its less good points, but there’s enough of the former to merit a look.”

The show tackles many issues in the news, including the drug war being waged south of the border. As executive producer Elwood Reid told The Times in May, “Mexico is the biggest character and yet the unseen character in the room. It gives the show immediate stakes. The war on drugs and so many other things are all played out on the border. Our show starts out with a body, but what’s really complicated is the border.”

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