‘Downton Abbey’ Season 4 premiere hits series record for PBS

The Season 4 premiere of “Downton Abbey� has forced PBS to throw out its old record books.

Sunday’s episode of the costume drama set in 1920s Britain became the most-watched PBS drama premiere of all time, with a total audience of 10.2 million viewers, according to Nielsen.

That was up 22% over the Season 3 premiere last year, itself a record for PBS, which typically sees ratings that are a fraction of those of other broadcast networks.

Fan interest for the fourth season has been at a high since last season ended with the unexpected death of the popular “Downton� scion Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens).

The PBS scheduling strategy for “Downton� has become somewhat controversial since the network chooses to air the show months after it is telecast in the U.K. In Britain, “Downton Abbey� closed out its fourth season in November with a season-high audience of 9.8 million viewers.

What did you think of the Season 4 premiere?

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