'True Blood' returns to biggest HBO audience in years

HBO's second season premiere of "True Blood" earned a series record-setting 3.7 million viewers, making it was the most-watched program on the network since "The Sopranos" finale two years ago.

Despite facing the last game of the NBA Finals, the Sunday telecast was up 157% compared to the first season premiere and 51% from the first season finale.

If you fold in the show's 11 p.m. encore, "True Blood" was seen by 5.1 million viewers, easily the largest Sunday total for the series.  

The vampire drama is also, by the way, the most stolen TV show. Pirate Bay lists the season two premiere as its most-downloaded show, followed by Showtime's "Weeds."