Downton Abbey helps increase ITV's audience share for first time since 1990

GUARDIAN
Jason Deans
The Guardian, Wednesday 26 February 2014 15.59 EST


Downton Abbey helped boost ITV's share of the UK television audience. Photograph: ITV

ITV's main network increased its audience share last year for the first time since 1990, on the back of successful shows including Downton Abbey, Broadchurch and I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here!

The channel had a 16.2% share of all viewing (including the ITV HD simulcast channel and ITV1+1 timeshift service) in 2013, compared with 15.7% the previous year.

The last time ITV's annual share of viewing grew, John Major was prime minister and the broadcaster dominated British television with shows such as London's Burning, Jeeves and Wooster and Minder, starring George Cole – and The Big Match was still must-see football viewing. At the time, there were still only four terrestrial channels and BSkyB's satellite service was in its infancy.

In 1990, ITV had a 44% audience share and Coronation Street was the most popular show on TV, with its highest rating episode attracting nearly 20 million viewers.

The TV company now faces competition from hundreds of digital channels, but broadcast the second and third most watched programmes of the year in 2013 – after BBC1's New Year's Eve Fireworks – the finals of I'm a Celebrity (13.5 million viewers) and Britain's Got Talent (12.8m). Downton Abbey (12.1m), Coronation Street (11.3m), X Factor (11.2 million) and Broadchurch (10.5m) also featured in the 2013 TV ratings top 20.


READ MORE HERE: http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/feb/26/downton-abbey-helps-increase-itv-audience

Downton Abbey, Season 3 on "Masterpiece Classic" Finale Ratings End on a High Note PBS spins the numbers for Sunday, February 17. (THE FUTON CRITIC)

Final Episode Averaged 8.2 Million Viewers

ARLINGTON, VA; February 19, 2013 -- PBS and WGBH announced today that the conclusion of the breakout hit "Downton Abbey, Season 3" on MASTERPIECE CLASSIC captivated an average audience of 8.2 million viewers (Nielsen Fast National data, 5.2 household rating). The Season 3 finale's average audience was 50 percent above the Season 2 finale (5.4 million viewers, 3.5 household Fast National rating) from February 2012.

"Downton Abbey, Season 3," a Carnival/MASTERPIECE co-production, consistently drew an audience more than quadruple the PBS primetime average. It exceeded the average rating of the second season of "Downton Abbey" by 66 percent (based on metered market averages).

According to SocialGuide, there were nearly 80,000 "Downton Abbey"-related tweets sent out on Feb. 17, making it the 2nd most tweeted-about series (broadcast or cable) on television that night.


Read more at http://www.thefutoncritic.com/ratings/2013/02/19/downton-abbey-season-3-on-masterpiece-classic-finale-ratings-end-on-a-high-note-48115/20130219pbs01/#Usou9RsHJxt4grVE.99

'Downton Abbey' takes on Super Bowl XLVII...and scores a moral victory in ratings battle Period drama draws 6.6 million viewers to 108.4 million for the big game between the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens. BY DAVID HINCKLEY / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2013, 6:30 PM

An original episode of ‘Downton Abbey’ aired against the Super Bowl Sunday night and still averaged 6.6 million viewers.

The Baltimore Ravens couldn't stop the Downton Abbey Crawleys Sunday night, though the American footballers did slow them down a bit.

PBS's phenomenon "Downton Abbey" was one of the few shows that dared to air a new episode opposite the Super Bowl Sunday night, perhaps suspecting it appeals to a different demographic.


READ MORE: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/downton-abbey-takes-super-bowl-xlvii-article-1.1255277

Dudes Love the Dowager Countess Just as Much as You Do (JEZEBEL)

PBS has released its ratings numbers for Season 2 of Downton Abbey and, to some mild and socially restrained surprise, viewership among the male 18-34 demographic, — the same demographic largely to blame for the Entourage phenomenon — jumped up 100 percent, matching the rise in viewership among 18-34-year-old women as well as 35-49-year-old men (the increase among 35-49-year-old women was almost twice as high at 173 percent). These numbers represent the largest ever increase for the "Masterpiece" series, with the 18-34-year-old women giving "Masterpiece" the largest (278 percent) bump over its previous average.

Male viewership is a significant part of that ratings boost, which ensures that Masterpiece programs are tapping wider audiences, and will no longer be relegated to the lobbies of bed and breakfasts across America.

READ MORE:  http://jezebel.com/5897444/dudes-love-the-dowager-countess-just-as-much-as-you-do

'Downton Abbey' Season Finale Draws Victory for PBS: Highest Ratings in Three Years (ENTERTAINMENT AND STARS)

By PEGGY TRUONG: Subscribe to Peggy's RSS feed February 23, 2012 2:51 PM EST

While "Downton Abbey" fans basked in the season two finale victories (Mr. Bates's new prison sentence, Mary and Matthew's engagement, the Countess of Grantham's usual musings, to name a few), PBS celebrated its own triumph: ratings.

Sunday night's two-hour "Downton" finale scored the network its highest ratings in nearly three years, with some 5.4 million viewers. The last time PBS hit numbers of this caliber was back in 2009, with the premiere of Ken Burns' documentary, "National Parks: America's Best Idea."

According to Entertainment Weekly, the second season of "Downton Abbey" drew a 25 percent increase in its audience over the show's first season, which premiered in the UK in September 2010. The show's viewers are also getting younger, with females aged 18-34 up a whopping 251 percent, EW reports.

Read more:  http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/303696/20120223/downton-abbey-season-finale-pbs-ratings.htm

'Downton Abbey’ scores big ratings for PBS (ORLANDO SENTINEL)

By Hal Boedecker

American viewers flocked to the finale of “Downton Abbey.”

The lesson: A great love story will hook viewers every time.

 The two-hour episode, which aired Sunday on PBS’ “Masterpiece,” averaged 5.4 million viewers. That number, PBS stressed, does not include station replays, DVR viewing or online streaming. It was a remarkable showing for PBS. The finale scored the biggest rating for public television since the premiere of Ken Burns’ “National Parks” in September 2009. The second season of “Downton Abbey” often brought in an audience more than double the PBS average in prime time. Season two bettered the average rating of season one by 25 percent.

Read further:  http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_tv_tvblog/2012/02/downton-abbey-scores-big-ratings-for-pbs.html

Golden Globes ratings: Almost 17 million viewers tune in for Ricky Gervais hosted awards show (The Daily News)

Slightly lower than last year's telecast

By / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Monday, January 16 2012, 2:13 PM

Handout/Getty Images

(L-R) actors Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern. producer Rebecca Eaton, writer Julian Fellowes and producer Gareth Neame accept the award for Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television for ‘Downton Abbey.’

 

The Nielsen Co. says Sunday’s Golden Globes ceremony was seen by 16.8 million TV viewers. It beat all network competition in its time period but dipped slightly from last year’s audience for the film and TV awards show.

According to time zone-adjusted Nielsen “fast national” figures released Monday, the Globes finished within 1 percent of the 17 million viewers who tuned in to the 2011 broadcast.

BEST AND WORST DRESSED AT GOLDEN GLOBES

Carried by NBC from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern time, the program aired live in every time zone. Some western markets also carried an encore telecast immediately following the live coverage.

British comedian-actor Ricky Gervais returned for his third go as host, lampooning many of the nominees, presenters and even the sponsoring Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/golden-globes-ratings-17-million-viewers-tune-ricky-gervais-hosted-awards-show-article-1.1007060#ixzz1jj7sTq7k