PBS is not a TV ratings powerhouse, but last weekend's premiere of Downton Abbey drew 7.9 million viewers. This isn't a huge audience, but it is four times the primetime audience that PBS enjoys on average, and it is comparable with the major networks' audiences for the same night.
PBS isn't exactly lowering its standards or reaching for mass appeal with Downton -- on the contrary, superficially it's about exactly what you'd expect a public TV drama to look and sound like. On Sunday night, though, it was about as popular as what the major networks were offering.
With the fragmenting of audiences, we may reach a point where the audience for a PBS drama like Downton is only as niche as is the audience for network sitcoms. That could mean a higher profile for public broadcasting in this country, which could attract more funding and make it a more competitive force.
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