AMC's acclaimed drama "Mad Men" aired for the first half of its two-part final season on Sunday night to the lowest debut audience since 2008.

2.3 million viewers tuned in for the season seven episode, titled "Time Zones," at 9 p.m. on Sunday, CNN reported. Compare that to the previous season's opener, which racked up a grand total of 3.37 million during its first broadcast.

The network aired the new episode two more times this past weekend, bringing the audience number up to 4.4 million.

AMC reps told CNN that "Mad Men" is "the most upscale show on ad-supported television among adults 18-49, and sees significant time-shifting activity," and noted Sunday night's viewership wasn't far from the sixth season's overall numbers.

"Mad Men" hasn't ever raked in huge ratings, Variety critic Rick Kissell pointed out in his Monday column. Last year's June season finale gained 2.69 million viewers, while the show's highest point was its fifth-season premiere. 3.54 million watched that particular episode in March of 2012, Variety reported.

"Mad Men" is currently the number one most-watched television show on iTunes, and is also the number 1 season pass.

AMC's new historical drama "Turn" aired its second episode after "Mad Men," gaining 1.9 million viewers for the evening.

It's possible Don Draper's return to television could have been overshadowed by other big premieres that aired simultaneously. "Game of Thrones" held its dedicated audience with a whopping 6.3 million viewers. MTV's Movie Awards, hosted by Conan O'Brien, also aired on Sunday night.

"Mad Men" creator Matthew Weiner recently broke down his team's process for writing season seven.

"I said to the writers, 'Is there anything that you want to do on the show that we've never done?' A lot of amazing things came up, some of which we will probably never do, unfortunately," Weiner told the Wall Street Journal over the weekend. "I can't think about how to tell a story while also thinking, 'If you don't hit a grand slam, we're going to lose the World Series!' I have to go back to, 'What would Don do?' instead of, 'Do you know this is the last time Don's going to do blankety-blank?' I can't deal with that. I just have to do my job, bird by bird."