The CBS daytime drama Beyond the Gates brought a good-sized number of viewers into its world during the shows premiere week.

The soap opera, the first daytime drama centered on Black characters in more than 35 years, averaged 2.28 million cross-platform viewers for its premiere week, including three days of streaming and other delayed viewing. Beyond the Gates premiered Feb. 24.

On CBS alone, the show averaged a little over 2 million viewers over three days, finishing in a virtual tie with ABCs General Hospital. It also beat out the long-running ABC series in key demographics, including adults and women 25-54. Streaming added another 272,000 viewers to Beyond the Gates average for the opening week. About 5.2 million people watched at least a few minutes of the show. Beyond the Gates also significantly outperformed the year-ago ratings for The Talk, which it replaced in CBS daytime lineup. The shows total audience is up by 78 percent versus The Talk for the same week in 2024, and same-day ratings among women ages 18-49 and 25-54 grew by 56 percent year-to-year.

More than half of the Beyond the Gates audience 55 percent for its premiere week was made up of Black viewers. That compares to 30 percent for CBS The Bold and the Beautiful, 29 percent for The Young and the Restless and 22 percent for General Hospital.

CBS greenlit Beyond the Gates in April 2024. The show is a product of the CBS Studios/NAACP Venture, led by Sheila Ducksworth, in partnership with Procter Gambles PG Studios. Michele Val Jean (The Bold and the Beautiful, General Hospital) is the creator and showrunner and executive produces with Ducksworth, Robert Guza Jr., Julie Carruthers, Leon W. Russell, Derrick Johnson, Kimberly Doebereiner and Anna Saalfeld.

The shows cast featuresTamara Tunie, Daphne Duplaix, Karla Mosley, Clifton Davis, Alex Alegria, Lauren Buglioli, Brandon Claybon, Timon Kyle Durrett, Sean Freeman, Ben Gavin, Marquita Goings, Jibre Hordges, Jen Jacob, Maurice Johnson, Trisha Mann-Grant, Mike Manning, RhonniRose Mantilla, Ambyr Michelle, Colby Muhammad and Arielle Prepetit.