‘Ted Lasso’ Season 4 Premiere Sets Apple TV Viewership Record

“Ted Lasso” is off to a record-setting start with its fourth season, as the Apple TV series posted the biggest season-premiere audience in the platform’s history. Nielsen data reported that the first episode generated 296.6 million viewing minutes across Aug. 4 and 5.

The official Season 4 premiere date was Aug. 5, but Nielsen included viewing from Aug. 4 because Apple TV made the opening episode available early that evening at 9 p.m. ET and 6 p.m. PT. Based on the 42-minute running time and a viewing-hours metric similar to one used by Netflix, Variety estimated that the premiere reached approximately 7.1 million viewers.

The strong debut marks a notable turnaround for the comedy, whose fortunes had declined during its third season in 2023, which had initially been expected to serve as the series finale. The show follows Ted Lasso, played by Jason Sudeikis, an American football coach who travels to England to manage AFC Richmond, despite having no experience coaching British soccer.

Season 4 picks up three years after the conclusion of Season 3, when Ted left AFC Richmond and returned to his home in Kansas City. The new season brings him back to England after he decides to take charge of Richmond’s Women’s Football Club.

The premiere’s audience figures arrive alongside a strong critical response. Season 4 currently holds a 90% “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 91 reviews. That score is up from Season 3’s 81%, although it remains below the 92% recorded by Season 1 and the 98% earned by Season 2.

The audience response has been somewhat less favorable. Season 4 initially recorded an 89% “fresh” audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on more than 50 verified user ratings, but that figure has since fallen to 79% based on more than 250 ratings. Season 1 remains the series’ audience-score leader at 95%, followed by Season 2 at 87%, Season 4 at 79% and Season 3 at 77%.

“Ted Lasso” Season 4 is following a weekly Wednesday release pattern on Apple TV, with new episodes arriving at 3 a.m. ET and 12 a.m. PT. Episode 1, “Home,” premiered Aug. 5, followed by Episode 2, “Curiouser and Curiouser!” on Aug. 12. Episode 3, “Richmond’s Got Talent,” is scheduled for Aug. 19.

The remaining episodes are scheduled to arrive weekly through Oct. 7. Episode 4 is set for Aug. 26, Episode 5 for Sept. 2, Episode 6 for Sept. 9, Episode 7 for Sept. 16, Episode 8 for Sept. 23, Episode 9 for Sept. 30 and Episode 10 for Oct. 7. Titles for those episodes have not yet been announced.

Created by Jason Sudeikis, Brendan Hunt and Joe Kelly, the fourth season features Sudeikis alongside Hannah Waddingham, Juno Temple, Brett Goldstein, Hunt, Jeremy Swift, Tanya Reynolds, Jude Mack, Aisling Sharkey and Abbie Hern. The first two Season 4 episodes are streaming on Apple TV, along with the complete first three seasons.