pbs.org

of all 

U.S. TV 

households 

watch PBS

86%

Today’s PBS

of all kids age 

2-8 watch 

PBS

77%

PBS videos on web 

& mobile platforms 

in June

407 million

Americans

watched

America’s Largest Classroom

The Nation’s Largest Stage

A Trusted Window To The World

JULY 2015
Broadcast & Cable Primetime Household Ratings, 

2014-’15 Season-To-Date

Strong On-Air Reach Across America

Every day, PBS and more than 350 member stations fulfill our essential mission to the 

American public, providing trusted programming that is uniquely different from commercial 

broadcasting, treating audiences as citizens, not simply consumers. In fact, PBS has been rated 

as the most trustworthy institution among nationally known organizations for 12 consecutive years.

Source: Nielsen Live +7; HH Total US AA%, M-S 8p-11p; 9/22/2014-7/26/2015

6.03CBS

4.71ABC

2.97FOX

1.45ESPN

1.22USA

1.10DISNEY

1.18FOXNEWS

0.98DISCOVERY

0.97HGTV

0.79FX

0.71ADULTSWIM

0.68FOOD

0.79ION

0.71TELEMUNDO

0.68HALLMARK

0.71LIFETIME

0.67FAMILY

0.65ENC

0.67A&E

0.91NICKELODEON

0.85AMC

0.82HBO

1.16TBS

1.13TNT

1.03CW

0.99HISTORY

1.47PBS

4.73NBC

0.68TLC

1.32UNIVISION

• Over the course of a year, 86% of all U.S. television 

households - and 211 million people - watch PBS. The 

demographic breakdown of PBS’ full-day audience 

reflects the overall U.S. population with respect to race/

ethnicity, education and income. 

(Nielsen NPower, 9/23/2013-9/21/2014)

• In a typical month, nearly 100 million people watch 

their local PBS stations.

(Nielsen NPower, October 2014)

• Through July for the current 2014-’15 season, PBS’ 

primetime household audience is significantly larger 

than many commercial channels, including Bravo (PBS’ 

audience is 129% larger), A&E (+117%), TLC (+113%), 

HBO (+77%), HGTV (+49%) and Discovery Channel 

(+47%). In addition, PBS’ primetime rating for news and 

public affairs programming is 110% higher than CNN’s

primetime audience.

(Nielsen NPower, 9/22/2014-7/26/2015)

• 77% of all kids age two to eight watched PBS during 

the 2013-‘14 season.

(Nielsen NPower, 9/23/2013 - 9/21/2014)

• PBS had six of the top 10 programs among mothers of 

young children in June 2015, with the top three spots 

going to PBS KIDS series.

(Nielsen National Toolbox, 6/1/2015 - 6/28/2015)

• Through July of the current season, PBS has a 

1.47 national primetime household rating.

(Nielsen NPower, 9/22/2014-7/26/2015)

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Innovation and Growth on Digital Platforms

• Americans watched 407 million videos across all of PBS’ web, mobile and connected device platforms 

in June 2015; over four-fifths (82%) of these streams were delivered on a mobile platform. 

(Google Analytics, 6/2015)

• Americans viewed more than 4.5 billion videos across all PBS digital platforms in 2014 – a new 

record for PBS. 

(Google Analytics, 1/2014-12/2014)

• Combined, PBS had over 28 million unique visitors to its sites in June. 

(Google Analytics, 6/2015)

• In June, streaming on PBSKIDS.org accounted for 42% of all time spent watching kids videos online. 

Additionally, more minutes were spent viewing video on PBSKIDS.org than on any other site in the 

kids category. 

(comScore Video Metrix, 6/2015)

• In total, PBS’ general audience and kids mobile apps have been downloaded 23.4 million times.

(AppFigures)

• More than 322 million streams were delivered on the PBS KIDS Video app in June.

(Google Analytics, 6/2015)

• PBS has 14.8 million combined followers across 10 different social networks, including 

Facebook, Google+, Tumblr, Twitter and YouTube. 

(7/1/2015)
Coming Up on PBS

COVER: NATURE’S MIRACLE ORPHANS, “Newbie,” the baby female three-toed sloth, gets to grips with climbing, Costa Rica (credit: courtesy of Sam Trull 2014); MERCY STREET (credit: courtesy of Antony Platt); NATURE CAT (credit: courtesy of Spiffy Pictures). INTERIOR 

LEFT: AMERICAN EPIC, first ever color film footage of Mississippi John Hurt here performing “Louis Collins” (credit: courtesy of ©2015 Lo-Max Films); MASTERPIECE “Downton Abbey, Season 4,” Phyllis Logan as Mrs. Hughes as Jim Carter as Mr. Carson (credit: courtesy of 

©Nick Briggs/Carnival Film and Television Limited 2013 for MASTERPIECE); BIG BLUE LIVE, California Sea lion (Zalophus californianus) swimming in open water (credit: courtesy of Alex Mustard); PBS NEWSHOUR, Judy Woodruff (left) and Gwen Ifill (right) co-anchor the

nightly broadcast (credit: courtesy of Robert Severi). INTERIOR RIGHT: AMERICAN EXPERIENCE “Walt Disney,” Walt Disney seated with drawing board on his lap and representations of his creations Mickey and Minnie Mouse behind, October 1933 (credit: courtesy of Condé 

Nast Archive/Corbis); THE CIVIL WAR, Civil War Cannon (credit: courtesy of Florentine Films); IN THEIR OWN WORDS “Muhammad Ali” (credit: courtesy of Howard Bingham); CURIOUS GEORGE 3: BACK TO THE JUNGLE (credit: CURIOUS GEORGE is a production of Imagine, 

WGBH, and Universal. Curious George and related characters, created by Margret and H.A. Rey, are copyrighted and trademarked by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company and using under license. Licensed by UNIVERSAL STUDIOS LICENSING LLC. Television 

series: (c) 2015 Universal Studios. All rights reserved. ABCmouse.com is a proud sponsor of Curious George (R) on PBS KIDS.); THE BRAIN WITH DAVID EAGLEMAN, David Eagleman at the Blue Brain project in Lausanne, Switzerland (credit: courtesy of Blink Films). BACK: 

POV “Cutie and the Boxer” (credit: http://cutieandtheboxer.co.uk/stills); MASTERPIECE “Indian Summers,” Amber Rose Revah as Leena Prasad, Henry Lloyd-Hughes as Ralph Whelan, Julie Walters as Cynthia Coffin, Nikesh Patel as Aafrin Dalal, and Jemima West as Alice 

Whelan (credit: courtesy of New Pictures/Channel 4 for MASTERPIECE in association with All3Media International); INDEPENDENT LENS “The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution,” Black Panthers from Sacramento, Free Huey Rally, Bobby Hutton Memorial Park in 

Oakland, CA, USA, 1969 (credit: courtesy of Pirkle Jones and Ruth-Marion Baruch); ODD SQUAD, Filip Geljo as Agent Otto and Dalila Bela as Agent Olive (credit: courtesy of ODD SQUAD (C) 2014 The Fred Rogers Company).

PBS in Primetime

PBS’ fall 2015 primetime schedule offers delights in all 

genres, from drama to the performing arts to sumptuous 

nature and science programs. Drama—with a comedy 

nightcap—rules Sunday nights, including “Indian 

Summers” from MASTERPIECE, featuring acclaimed 

actress Julie Walters; THE WIDOWER, based on the true 

story of the charming killer Malcolm Webster; and season 

two of the comedy VICIOUS. 

Fall weeknights start with the AMERICAN EXPERIENCE

profile of “Walt Disney,” as well as the rebroadcast 

of Ken Burns’s THE CIVIL WAR, marking the film’s 

25th anniversary with a newly restored high-definition 

version. PBS’ ongoing commitment to independent 

film continues with provocative and moving stories 

from INDEPENDENT LENS and new films from POV. 

Treasures also keep coming with new episodes of 

ANTIQUES ROADSHOW. 

Tuesdays bring new perspectives on America’s music, 

its first settlers and its current events with AMERICAN 

EPIC, “The Pilgrims” on AMERICAN EXPERIENCE and 

the latest in America’s war on drugs, immigration reform 

and more from FRONTLINE. 

“Think Wednesday” is home to extraordinary science 

and nature programming on PBS, including THE BRAIN 

WITH DAVID EAGLEMAN, EARTH’S NATURAL 

WONDERS and new episodes of science-grounded series 

NATURE and NOVA. 

Arts anchor primetime Fridays with the fifth PBS 

ARTS FALL FESTIVAL. Hosted by international music 

superstar Gloria Estefan, the festival showcases such 

titles as UNITY – THE LATIN TRIBUTE TO MICHAEL 

JACKSON, LIVE FROM LINCOLN CENTER “Kern & 

Hammerstein’s Show Boat” starring Vanessa Williams, 

GREAT PERFORMANCES “Chita Rivera: A Lot of 

Livin’ to Do” and FIRST YOU DREAM – THE MUSIC OF 

KANDER & EBB. PBS’ acclaimed public affairs shows 

WASHINGTON WEEK WITH GWEN IFILL and CHARLIE 

ROSE – THE WEEK kick off the weekend and the arts 

presentations on Friday nights. Monday through Friday, 

the PBS NEWSHOUR continues to offer in-depth stories 

on the top news events.

PBS KIDS

This fall, PBS KIDS premieres new episodes and specials 

from favorite series, as well as a brand new show: 

NATURE CAT.

NATURE CAT, a new animated series designed to 

encourage kids ages 3-8 to explore and develop 

connections with the natural world, will premiere 

Wednesday, November 25 on PBS KIDS (check local 

listings). Digital content related to the series, including 

games, apps, streaming video, hands-on activities 

and parent resources, will also be available in the fall. 

NATURE CAT is voiced by an all-star line-up of comedic 

actors, including Saturday Night Live stars Taran Killam 

(Nature Cat), Kate McKinnon (Squeeks), Bobby Moynihan 

(Hal) and Kenan Thompson (Ronald); and Kate Micucci 

(Scrubs, The Big Bang Theory) as Daisy.

PBS KIDS hit series DANIEL TIGER’S NEIGHBORHOOD, 

PEG + CAT, ODD SQUAD and SUPER WHY! all debut 

new episodes this fall, include Halloween-focused 

programming in October. And in November, PBS KIDS 

premieres a one-hour holiday special: WILD KRATTS 

CREATURE CHRISTMAS. Holiday-themed specials and 

episodes from other PBS KIDS favorites will also air this 

winter. New PBS KIDS digital content, including apps and 

games, will also launch in the coming months.