Sorry U.S. fans of Downton Abbey, it looks like you won’t be watching the fifth season with the Brits.
PBS revealed Monday that the channel would continue to air Downton Abbey in January, months after the period drama premieres in the U.K. “It would be very hard for me to imagine putting [Downton] anywhere else than where it has seemed to have found a very strong audience,” Paula Kerger, PBS’s president, told the Associated Press.
Downton Abbey‘s fourth season kicked off Jan. 5—a “post-holiday tradition” for viewers, according to Kerger—but British viewers already had the pleasure of watching the entire season in late 2013. The delay has sparked criticism of PBS and, more notably, inspired viewers who can’t wait to view illegally.
But Kerger pointed out that the delay hasn’t hurt PBS’s ratings: season four premiered with more than 10 million viewers, a considerable increase over the 7.9 million who tuned in last year.
[AP]