Roma Downey’s ‘The Bible’ has drawn near record audiences for The History Channel. She and her husband, Mark Burnett of ‘Survivor’ fame, are sitting on a huge hit despite mediocre reviews.
The much debated programme and Gabriel Byrne’s ‘Vikings’ show have proven massive hits for the satellite channel.
Yahoo.com reports that the odd coupling of “The Bible” and “Vikings” delivered big ratings for The History Channel.
The series premiere of ‘Vikings’ landed 6.2 million total viewers.
The premiere of ‘The Bible’ from 8 to 10 p.m. drew 13.1 million total viewers.
The report says this rivalled last year’s finale of the History miniseries ‘Hatfields & McCoys’ which drew a massive 14.3 million total viewers.
With a second telecast factored in, ‘The Bible’ averaged 14.8 million total viewers for the night.
Some five million of them are in the advertiser-preferred 18-49 demographic with 5.6 million of them in the 25-54 demo.
In a statement, executive producers Roma Downey and Mark Burnett said: “We could not be more thrilled with this out of the gate success of ‘The Bible’ on History.
“The world is watching right now and we are incredibly humbled by the reaction to the series.”
Byrne’s ‘Vikings’ meanwhile, drew 6.2 million total viewers with its 10 p.m. premiere, and 8.3 million with a second airing factored in.
The report adds that over the two airings, the first instalment of ‘Vikings’ pulled in 3.4 million viewers in the 18-49 demographic and 3.8 million in the 25-54 demo.
History Channel executives are naturally delighted.
““The success of The Bible has catapulted History into one of the most powerful brands across media landscape and we could not be more thrilled and more proud,” Nancy Dubuc, president of A&E Networks.
“Clearly there is a nationwide groundswell that was waiting for this moment … An enormous debt of gratitude goes out to everyone and the amazing effort put forth to drive us to this amazing win. Clearly the passion for this project has resonated with our viewers and across the nation. We are thrilled, and the story is only just beginning.”
Here's an extended look at the History Channel's "The Bible":
7 Comments
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.STEVENSTAR | Mar 06, 2013, 11:50 AM EST
I SEEN HER ONCE ON A TV SHOW... SHE'S AS FAKE AND FALSE WITH THAT OIRISH ACCENT OF HERS...SHES AS IRISH AS IM FROM OUTER MONGOLIA !!!
Redneck56 | Mar 05, 2013, 07:15 PM EST
Seriously....I didn't know there was Kung-Fu in Sodom and Gomorrah.
Scranton | Mar 05, 2013, 05:15 PM EST
Interesting to see this on the History channel...as if these stories are actual verifiable facts....seems strange.....
Smyrnian | Mar 05, 2013, 05:07 PM EST
Nico - it is not for any of us to tell anyone else what to believe or to pronounce their beliefs fiction. Live and let live.
Nicomax | Mar 05, 2013, 12:53 PM EST
Dickens books were also quite popular. It usually depends upon how creative, dramatic and appealing you can make your fiction seem to those interested in made-up stories.
MacConDubh | Mar 05, 2013, 10:43 AM EST
The middle east of 2000 years ago seems to have been populated almost entirely of white people with British accents. Who knew?
joeg2028 | Mar 05, 2013, 10:26 AM EST
I watched about 10 minutes of The Bible last night, and that's about all I could handle because the production values were substandard and the acting (or maybe the direction) was awful.