Sky Atlantic's Riviera

Riviera smashes Sky Atlantic records

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Sky Atlantic – and Sky – has been a big investor in TV dramas over the past few years, although given the nature of Sky being a subscription service, it’s made often-acclaimed dramas that not many people have actually watched. The same goes across many other Sky channels, as expensive dramas like The Young Pope have struggled to find much of an audience in the UK, against much stronger ratings in the US.

However, Sky Atlantic now has a big, bona fide hit on its hands. It’s less than three weeks old, and it’s already been smashing records for the service. The programme in question is the drama series Riviera, which started out as a project co-created by The Crying Game director Neil Jordan, who has since distanced himself from the show. It’s actually turned out to be a glossy soap opera-style drama, evoking memories of 80s American soaps. And audiences seemingly can’t get enough of it.

Sky has now announced that Riviera is the most popular box set release in Sky Atlantic’s admittedly relatively short history. It’s boasting over 10 million (legal) downloads for the show, beating the likes of Fortitude and The Night Of. Oh, and Game Of Thrones.

A second series of Riviera is all but confirmed too, and the episodes of season one are currently screening on Sky Atlantic, and available for download via Sky’s service.