TCA 2013: PBS: Critics Go Wild Over "Downton Abbey" - Ed Martin

Beverly Hills CA amp8211 Negative viewership trends especially declines have been a hot topic throughout the last two weeks of the Summer 2013 Television Critics Association tour But PBS president and chief executive officer Paula Kerger showed up yesterday with only good news to reportquotImagine a broadcast network that has actually seen a 5 percent increase in its primetime viewership compared to last yearquot she said of PBS at the start of her session with TCA members quotOn Sunday nights this network has seen a 26 percent rise in ratings year over year and Wednesday nights aren39t far behind with a 17 percent increase over the last two yearsquotIn a world where audiences seem to be constantly shrinking this network aired its highest rated drama ever in February with an 81 national rating the No 1rated show of the night beating all broadcast and cable competition in primetimequot she continued speaking of quotDownton Abbeyquot the period serial that remains a steadily growing cultural phenomenon Anticipation for its upcoming fourth season has already begun to build In fact at a dinner last night with cast members from quotDowntonquot critics and reporters were so excited to see early exclusive clips from the fourth season and ask questions of the actors that they could hardly contain themselves and quiet down long enough to listen to welcoming remarks from quotMasterpiecequot executive producer Rebecca Eaton In more than 20 years of attending TCA tours I have never seen the group behave in that way at any PBS event It certainly stirred up more wild enthusiasm here than any other program presented at this entire tourEarlier in the day critics grilled Kerger about the annual quotDowntonquot scheduling issue That is what can be done about the fact that episodes are telecast in the UK approximately three months before they are seen here meaning that spoilers immediately travel across the pond and spoil the fun for people who look to have it spoiled Of course to telecast episodes on PBS closer to their UK premieres would involve moving quotDowntonquot into the heat of fall competition from other networks In my opinion quotDowntonquot would do just fine against anything American television has to offer But I also think premiering it in January is a great way to start off the New Year and relieve postholiday blahsquotYou all have given me a hard time I know with loving intent about the fact that we sometimes put our most competitive work face to face against all of the network premieresquot Kerger laughed quotSo we look very carefully at the fall with that in mind As we look at how we can get promotion and buzz around quotDowntonquot the fact that people talk about it and that that word of mouth sort of travels once it premieres in the UK has actually benefited us In fact it is the highestrated series that we39ve ever had and the season three finale onenight broadcast earned the highest rating we39ve ever gotten in public television for a drama and the secondhighest rating of anything after 39The Civil War39 So you don39t want to mess with that if it39s working so wellquotTold that some cable executives have sniped that PBS39 ratings are up only because of this quotBritish soap operaquot Kerger replied quotSomeone hasn39t done their math because eight hours of programming is not going to change our ratings for an entire yearquot On a night to night basis she continued quotyou see that our numbers are up I think they are up for a number of reasonsquotAnd never mind dismissing quotDowntonquot as something that isn39t typical of PBS quotIt is very much in our wheelhousequot Kerger asserted quotWe have had that kind of programming on our air on Sunday nights since almost the beginning of public broadcastingquot she said citing the long ago PBS classics quotThe Six Wives of Henry VIIIquot and quotElizabeth Rquot as examplesProof that the outsize excitement suddenly permeating PBS extends beyond quotDowntonquot could be seen at the San Diego ComicCon of all places where thousands of rabid fans attended a panel for quotSherlockquot another wildly successful PBS franchise quotI was not at ComicCon but all of my colleagues came back really excited and enthusiastic about itquot Kerger enthused quotOne doesn39t often think of ComicCon and PBS in the same sentence but it was great We look forward to going backquotThroughout the day yesterday there were continual reminders that other PBS scripted series such as quotCall the Midwifequot and quotMr Selfridgequot are also contributing to its successAmid all the talk about ratings Kerger noted that PBS ultimately measures its success by the quotimpactquot it has on viewers and society quotNothing illustrates that better than our recent work covering the tragedy in Newtown Connecticutquot she said quotIn addition to a special that we aired right after the horrific shootings PBS stations and producers worked closely together to present 39After Newtown39 a week of special programming and digital content to provide context nuance and depth to the national conversation about gun control mental illness and school safety In all the 39After Newtown39 initiative reached 119 million Americans But the impact goes beyond the ratings The 39After Newton39 programming helped spark important conversations in communities across the country and encouraged viewers to go beyond the headlines and engage in real conversations about our futurequotIf you are receiving this report you are a registered member to Jack Myers Media Business Network or are receiving it as part of a registered corporate membership As a member Jack responds personally to your emails requests and comments He is available to speak at your company events In addition to Jack Myers Media Business Reports your membership underwrites MediaBizBloggerscom Women in Media Mentoring Initiative Jack Myers Wall St Report Jack Myers Video Media Report plus our exclusive industry economic forecasts trend forecasts and corporate performance research Redistribution in any form except among approved individuals within your company is prohibited As a member you have full access to all archives and reports at wwwjackmyerscom If you require your ID and password contact maryannjackmyerscom

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TCA 2013: PBS: Critics Go Wild Over "Downton Abbey" - Ed Martin

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