Television Weekly Ratings: 'Downton Abbey' scores for PBS

Associated Press

Posted: 02/22/2013 12:03:08 AM EST

Updated: 02/22/2013 10:47:29 AM EST

In this image released by PBS, Maggie Smith as the Dowager Countess Grantham, is shown in a scene from the second season on 'Downton Abbey.' The 78-year-old actress, who portrays Lady Grantham in the popular PBS series, told “60 Minutes” that she hasn't watched the drama because doing so would only make her agonize over her performance. She said she may watch it someday. (AP Photo/PBS, Carnival Film & Television Limited 2011 for MASTERPIECE, Nick Briggs)

NEW YORK -- The season-ending episode of "Downton Abbey" was a ratings success for PBS, if not a fan favorite.

The public television network's hit show disappointed many fans by killing off a popular character to end the third season on Sunday. The Nielsen company said 8.2 million people saw it.

The show's third season is the most-watched series on PBS since Ken Burns' epic "The Civil War," which first aired in 1990.

In further evidence of how TV viewing is changing, "Downton Abbey" and two programs that aired on cable networks Sunday -- "The Walking Dead" on AMC (11.1 million) and the NBA All-Star Game on TNT (8 million) -- had more viewers than anything on ABC, Fox and NBC that night. "60 Minutes," "The Mentalist" and "Amazing Race" all had more than 9 million viewers for CBS on Sunday, the Nielsen company said.

CBS had 15 of the 20 most-watched shows on broadcast television last week. The network had one failure, though: the new reality show "The Job" was fired after only two episodes. Last week's episode had 3.3 million viewers.

For the week in prime time, CBS averaged 8.8 million viewers. Fox was second with a 6.6 million average, ABC had 6.1 million, NBC had 4.4 million.

Nielsen's top programs for Feb. 11-17. Listings include the week's ranking and viewership (in millions):

1. "The Big Bang Theory" (CBS), 17.8.

2. "Person of Interest" (CBS), 14.8.

3. "Two and a Half Men" (CBS), 13.6.

"American Idol" (Wednesday) (Fox), 13.4.

5. "American Idol" (Thursday) (Fox), 12.5.

6. "Elementary" (CBS), 10.98.

7. "2 Broke Girls" (CBS), 10.9.

8. "Blue Bloods" (CBS), 10.7.

9. "Mike & Molly" (CBS), 10.5.

10. "Modern Family" (ABC), 10.05.

11. "60 Minutes" (CBS), 9.7.

12. "Hawaii Five-0" (CBS), 9.6.

13. "Amazing Race 22" (CBS), 9.5.

14. "The Mentalist" (CBS), 9.4.

15. "NCIS: Los Angeles (Tuesday, 8 p.m.) (CBS), 9.2.

16. "How I Met Your Mother" (CBS), 8.98.

17. "Castle" (ABC), 8.97.

18. "Survivor: Caramoan" (CBS), 8.94.

19. "Bones" (Fox), 8.8.

20. "CSI: NY" (CBS), 8.5. Oprah snatches Perry TNT sitcom

LOS ANGELES -- Oprah Winfrey's cable channel says it will be the new home of the sitcom "For Better or Worse."

Tyler Perry's comedy series will move from TBS to OWN for its third season, starting this fall. OWN announced that it's also getting rerun rights for the show's first two years.

"For Better or Worse" is about three couples dealing with the challenges of dating and married life. OWN says the original cast will remain with the show.

The comedy will be OWN's third scripted series from Perry, who has a deal with OWN to produce TV shows and other projects.

O'Reilly's ‘Killing Jesus' due in Sept.

NEW YORK -- After million-selling books on the assassinations of Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy, Fox News host Bill O'Reilly is turning to the most famous killing of all.

O'Reilly's "Killing Jesus: A History" will be published on Sept. 24.

According to publisher Henry Holt and Co., O'Reilly will collaborate on the book with Martin Dugard, his co-author for "Killing Lincoln" and "Killing Kennedy."