US pubcaster PBS scored its highest ratings for three years when more than five million viewers tuned in for the climax of the second season of UK period drama Downton Abbey.
An average audience of 5.4 million saw the final episode of season two on Sunday night, the highest overnight rating for three years and more than double PBS’s primetime average. It also topped the Downton season one finale by almost 30%.
Downton is coproduced by NBCUniversal-owned Carnival Films and PBS strand Masterpiece for UK broadcaster ITV1. NBCUniversal International has sold season one of the show into more than 200 territories worldwide.
The drama, written by Julian Fellowes, last month won a Golden Globe for best miniseries, and scooped four Emmys last September.
Gareth Neame, exec producer and MD of Carnival, said: “It is now clear the awards success at the Golden Globes and the Emmys has brought Downton Abbey to the attention of a far bigger audience in the US than a British show would normally achieve.
“US audiences have embraced Downton in the same way they have in the UK and around the world. The combination of an expressly British drama but with contemporary and well-paced storytelling has appealed to the biggest audience PBS has had in many years, with ratings more like network television than PBS.”
US actress Shirley MacLaine this week began filming on season three of Downton, which is due to air on ITV1 this autumn. She plays Martha Levinson, Lady Grantham’s mother.
The series was most recently acquired by Canadian French-language pubcaster Radio-Canada, while VoD service Hulu also picked up the show in a package deal of PBS content.
.jpg)
