AMC goes big with 'Breaking Bad'

2nd season premiere scores 42% ratings bump

By DANIEL FRANKEL

The second-season bow of AMC’s Bryan Cranston starrer 'Breaking Bad' lured 36% more 18-49 viewers than last season’s preem.

AMC's "Breaking Bad" broke out strongly in its second-season premiere Sunday, scoring a 42% uptick in total viewers over its frosh campaign average.

Watched by 1.7 million viewers, the bow was also up 36% over the show's season-one preem in adults 18-49, garnering 929,000 viewers in that demo.

Meanwhile, the season premiere was seen by 613,000 males 18-49, up 50% increase over season one in the show's target demo.

Produced by Sony Pictures TV, "Breaking Bad" stars Bryan Cranston as a terminally ill high school chemistry teacher who's determined to ensure the financial security of his family by manufacturing methamphetamine. Sunday's episode was the first original installment of the show to run since Cranston won the Emmy for lead drama actor in September.

Last summer AMC bowed the second campaign of "Mad Men" to a total aud of nearly 2 million viewers, nearly doubling its first-season average.