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PBS History Programming: Audience & Pipeline. Top 5

This post continues my coverage of the PBS audience for History and Science for delegates attending WCSFP Congress in San Francisco.

Top 5: American Experience

  • American Experience from WGBH “brings to life the incredible characters and epic stories that have shaped America’s past and present.”
  • 3-Season rating trend:
    • 1.98 HH (2014-15)
    • 1.72 HH (2015-16)
    • 1.52 HH (2016-17).
  • The Pilgrims is a Ric Burns production.

Top 5: American Masters

  • American Masters: WNET’s “award-winning biography series celebrates our arts and culture.”
  • 3-Season rating trend:
    • 0.86 HH (2014-15)
    • 1.12 HH (2015-16)
    • 0.79 HH (2016-17).

Secrets Of The Dead: Top 5

  • Secrets of the Dead is part detective story, part true-life drama that unearths evidence from around the world, challenging prevailing ideas and throwing fresh light on unexplained events.”
  • 3-Season rating trend:
    • 1.37 HH (2014-15)
    • 1.41 HH (2015-16)
    • 1.28 HH (2016-17).
  • 6 specials / year
  • Presented by WNET since 2000, inspired then by the C4 UK series.
  • Secrets Of The Dead home page.

 

Top 5 PBS History Outside The Strands

History Pipeline (Hours / Est)

  • American Experience: 14+/-
  • American Masters: 14+/-
  • Secrets of the Dead: 6
  • Finding Your Roots: 10
  • Other specials and series: 30+/-
  • Total new History hours: 70-80 (includes personal history, e.g., Finding Your Roots.

RECAP

Context

  • PBS’s average primetime rating is 1.41
  • That translates as an audience of 2,116,000 P2+

Volume of PBS Originals / Year (Hours / Est)

  • History: 70+
  • Science: 40-50
  • Natural History: 30-40
  • Total: 140-160

More in this series of Posts on the PBS Audience

Thanks for this Series of Posts

  • I’m very grateful to the PBS Programming, PBS Business Intelligence and stations for providing data and context.

Deeper Analysis


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