Beyonce’s Lemonade has been on everyone’s lips and tongues all week, and ahead of its official album release on Saturday night, its accompanying HBO special had everyone on the edge of their seats for what seemed like an autobiography of her marriage.
Well now the final numbers are in and whether the cheating allegations she sings about are true or were just used to drum up conversation, it looks like the plan worked either way. The official numbers arrived via TV By The Numbers and Bey brought in just a little under 1 million views.
The release of Beyonce’s visual album/film “Lemonade” put up solid numbers for HBO Saturday, drawing a 0.4 rating in adults 18-49 and 787,000 viewers. It ranked in the Top 30 in the demo for the day.
Congrats to Bey and HBO, who opened up their service to viewers who may not have had access to HBO. As you know, the company allowed all cable users to access the channel for free over the weekend to view the special and also stream it on their HBO now app for free. A great business move for all parties involved and the payoff of Lemonade is sooooo sweet.
Due to the success of the special, HBO reportedly will submit Lemonade for Emmy’s consideration according to Variety:
Beyoncé’s “Lemonade” has left the world abuzz since HBO debuted the visual album for a 27-hour window Saturday night. For those who missed it, it’s available for purchase via iTunes, or streaming via Jay Z’s Tidal platform. But the television drop makes it eligible for Emmy consideration, and HBO plans to submit “Lemonade” in the variety special category, Variety has learned.
Whether Kahlil Joseph and Beyoncé herself, the credited directors of the piece, can be joined by “additional directors” Melina Matsoukas, Todd Tourso, Dikayl Rimmasch, Jonas Akerlund and Mark Romanek remains to be seen. HBO is in the midst of working out those details.
Meanwhile, “Lemonade” should be a shoo-in for consideration in the lighting design/lighting direction category, given the lush imagery from vignette to vignette. The frames conjured by the seven d.p.s credited on the film have drawn comparisons to the work of Terrence Malick, and the project does have one definitive connection to the reclusive director: Joseph shot behind-the-scenes footage for Malick’s 2013 film “To the Wonder.”
Beyoncé previously received two Emmy nominations, for her Super Bowl XLVII Halftime Show in 2013 and for the “On the Run Tour” concert special with Jay Z.
