For the first time ever, PBS entered the Nielsen streaming top 10, thanks to Ken Burns’ documentary series “The American Revolution.”
While “The American Revolution” aired nightly on PBS from Nov. 16-21, the six-part documentary series logged 565 million minutes during the week of Nov. 17 on PBS and Prime Video, propelling the show to become the No. 10 most-watched streaming title.
According to Nielsen, viewership was driven by adults 65 and older, with this demographic making up 59% of the audience. Although the documentary series is available on several streaming services, including Prime Video, the largest share of viewing came from PBS’s streaming platform.
In this case, the six-night viewing event likely fueled the influx of viewers in a week, compared to a staggered release that might air just one episode per week. Each episode aired from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. ET, and all episodes can be streamed for free on PBS.org and on the PBS app.
The acquired streaming list is generally made up of linear favorites that continue to have a streaming life, with this week’s list including “Grey’s Anatomy,” which was the most-watched acquired streaming program of the week with 805 million minutes watched, as well as “NCIS” with 755 million minutes, “Law & Order” with 710 million minutes and “Bluey” with 674 million minutes. Other titles on the list were “Gunsmoke,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” “Bob’s Burgers,” “Paw Patrol” and “The Big Bang Theory.”
Co-directed by Burns, Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt and written by Geoffrey C. Ward, “The American Revolution” examines how America’s founding turned the world upside down, exploring how 13 British colonies on the Atlantic coast rebelled, won their independence and established a new form of government that radically reshaped the continent and inspired centuries of democratic movements around the world.
To accompany the series, PBS also launched a one-hour special titled “A More Perfect Union,” which features a conversation between Burns, Botstein and other experts in the field, focused on the founding of America and how ideas and values expressed 250 years ago remain relevant in conversations about governance today.
