In July 2012, Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan hinted at a possible spin-off about Saul Goodman. In a July 2012 interview, Gilligan said he liked "the idea of a Lawyer show in which the main Lawyer will do anything it takes to stay out of a court of law", including settling on the courthouse steps.
The series premiere drew in 4.4 million and 4 million in the 18–49 and 25–54 demographics, respectively, and received an overall viewership of 6.9 million. This was the record for the highest-rated scripted series premiere in basic cable history, until it was surpassed later the same year by another AMC series, Fear the Walking Dead.
On June 19, 2014, AMC announced it had renewed the series for a second season of 13 episodes to premiere in early 2016; however, it was later reduced to 10 episodes. The first teaser trailer debuted on AMC on August 10, 2014, and confirmed its premiere date of February 2015. In November 2014, AMC announced the series would have a two-night premiere; the first episode aired on Sunday, February 8, 2015, at 10:00 pm (ET), and then moved into its regular time slot the following night, airing Mondays at 10:00 pm. In May 2015, Gilligan confirmed that more of the prominent characters from Breaking Bad would be making guest appearances in season 2, but remained vague on which characters were likely to be seen.
AMC has released two digital comic books for Better Call Saul. The first, titled Better Call Saul: Client Development, released in February 2015, in advance of the series premiere, details the history of Saul and Mike, acting as a spin-off of the Breaking Bad episode that introduced Saul. In February 2016, in advance of the second-season premiere, AMC released Better Call Saul: Saul Goodman and the Justice Consortium in the Clutches of the Judgernaut!
In December 2013, Netflix announced that the entire first season would be available for streaming in the U.S. after the airing of the first-season finale, and in Latin America and Europe each episode would be available a few days after the episode airs in the U.S. However, the first season was not released on Netflix in the U.S. until February 1, 2016.
