Should Poldark season 4 air in America around the same time as in Britain?

This fall, Poldark season 3 is premiering in America (on October 1, to be precise). Should season 4 arrive a little bit sooner?

One of the questions we commonly receive when it comes to this and many other British imports (see Victoria or Call the Midwife) are fairly simple: Why in the world are American television networks, namely PBS, making you wait anywhere near as long in order to watch British shows? What good does that do anyone? Well, a big part of it stems seemingly just from the fact that this is the way that PBS likes to do things. It has a fairly set schedule for its programming that we would divide up into four different periods.

Winter – This is the time that begins in early January, which is where they used to air Downton Abbey and they now like to air Victoria.

Spring – This is where they often tend to air Call the Midwife and they have aired some other shows in the past.

Summer – This is when they aired the most-recent season of Grantchester, which may or may not have much of a future at the moment. Nothing seems to be altogether assured there.

Fall – As of right now, this seems to be the Poldark timeslot that works best for them. Sure, it airs opposite NFL football, but the assumption here seems to be that this show is perfect counter-programming. This is a network that does often air new programming opposite the Super Bowl.

As you can see, the big issue that would come with shifting the Poldark premiere date is that there’s not all that much wiggle room with how PBS likes to do things in America. They have their premiere times, and they only have a few hours a week that they really use in order to program some of their British imports. You have to just take advantage of whatever time is given.

Provided that Grantchester does not return next year, could you make a case for Poldark season 4 to premiere in the summer spot, especially given that’s when it will likely start on the BBC? Sure, but PBS likes making their viewers know and be very much aware of when some of their programs are going to be coming on the air. There’s not really all that much of an incentive in them switching things around all that much. The ratings are still going to be there, and they don’t have to be so dependent in scheduling their shows this way on when British networks decide to premiere them. They’re going to get them on the air, just at their own pace.

Do you wish that Poldark season 4 would premiere close to the same time in America as Great Britain, even if it feels like a longshot? Share below!

Meanwhile, head over here to get some additional Poldark news, including some of our character spotlights demonstrating what could happen for certain people this summer. (Photo: BBC.)