Vinyl premiered with a two-hour episode on Sunday, February 14. Although its ratings weren’t overly impressive — 764,000 viewers tuned in for the 9:00 pm ET broadcast, according to Deadline — the show earned strong reviews from critics. The fact that Vinyl premiered on Valentine’s Day probably didn’t help viewership, but whatever the case, HBO clearly wasn’t fazed by the numbers.
It’s understandable that HBO would be confident in the series. Vinyl comes from an all-star team of creators, including legendary musician Mick Jagger, acclaimed filmmaker Martin Scorsese, award-winning non-fiction writer Rich Cohen, and Boardwalk Empire creator Terence Winter. On top of that, Vinyl has an impressive cast: Bobby Cannavale, Olivia Wilde, Ray Romano, Ato Essandoh, Max Casella, P.J. Byrne, J.C. MacKenzie, Birgitte Hjort Sørensen, Juno Temple, Jack Quaid, James Jagger, and Paul Ben-Victor.
Set in New York in the 1970’s, the series follows Richie Finestra (played by Cannavale), a man struggling to save his failing record label. HBO describes the series as “a ride through the sex- and drug-addled music business of the early 1970’s at the dawn of punk, disco and hip-hop.” The show, which boasts a sizable music budget, will release soundtrack sets over the course of at least the 10-episode first season.
The official Vinyl Twitter account celebrated the news in a tweet Thursday, sharing a fitting clip from the show a bottle of champagne being popped.
#Vinyl has been renewed for a second season. Read more >> https://t.co/pCyd3j2LdC pic.twitter.com/03w8jq1IQl
— @vinylHBO (@vinylHBO) February 18, 2016
Vinyl airs on Sundays at 9 pm ET on HBO.
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