How have the ratings for American Horror Story: Roanoke held up through four episodes compared to previous seasons?

This season of American Horror Story had been shrouded in secrecy, and many tuned in on the Sept. 14 premiere to see the concept being revealed. This resulted in the fourth highest-rated episode in American Horror Story history, with 5.14 million viewers tuning in.

Since then, ratings have dropped with every new episode, as is the case with every season of American Horror Story. But the drops have been generally consistent with the drops for American Horror Story: Hotel. For comparison purposes, here are the viewership totals for the first four episodes of Roanoke compared to Hotel.

Roanoke Ratings

"Chapter 1" - 5.14 million

"Chapter 2" - 3.27 million

"Chapter 3" - 3.08 million

"Chapter 4" - 2.83 million

Hotel Ratings

"Checking In" - 5.81 million

"Chutes and Ladders" - 4.06 million

"Mommy" - 3.20 million

"Devil's Night" - 3.04 million

So the drops have generally been the same comparatively, even if Roanoke dropped below 3 million viewers before Hotel did, which was on the fifth episode. Neither season was able to maintain the heights of Coven or Freak Show, which were regularly watched by at least 3 million viewers each week.

Luckily for fans, the ratings for Roanoke probably don't matter in the long run, considering FX chose to renew the series for a seventh season.

"Ryan [Murphy], Brad [Falchuk] and their team of remarkable writers have done an amazing job of keeping 'American Horror Story' endlessly inventive, shocking and entertaining and we are honored to move ahead with them on the seventh installment," FX president John Landgraf said in a statement. "The sustained success through six installments only proves how intensely the series resonates with fans. 'AHS' confronts our deepest fears with unmatched suspense and style. Each new installment is a cultural event, hotly anticipated for its theme, imagery, cast and twists. We thank the creators and their team, the cast and everyone who has continued to make 'AHS' such an extraordinary series."

American Horror Story: Roanoke airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on FX.

Tags: American Horror Story television fx