‘Downton Abbey’ season 3: Finale ends on another high note

Sunday night’s “Downton Abbey” season 3 finale was not just one of the strongest of the entire series so far, but it also managed to have another major achievement to its name: some incredible ratings for network ITV.

Overall, the episode, which will be the last before a two-hour Christmas special coming up on December 25, ended up drawing an average of 10.1 million viewers and a peak of 10.7. Both of these numbers include figures for the catch-up ITV1+1 network, and they represent a season high for the show. This also helps season 3, with its average audience of 9.7 million, become the show’s most-watched season to date.

What makes these viewing figures even more impressive is when you consider that almost one out of every six people in Great Britain watched this program. Just in case you want this in greater perspective, this is essentially the same as a show in America getting an audience of over 50 million viewers. How many shows get this sort of viewership? Oh, that’s right: the answer here is “zero.” As a matter of fact, there is not even an American show that draws 25 million viewers, with the closest ones being “NCIS” and “American Idol” when it comes to total viewership. However, the American viewing public works a little differently than in Britain, as here advertisers care the most about viewers between the ages of 18 to 49.

“Downton Abbey” season 3 will officially premiere in America in January on PBS, where it drew some record ratings earlier this year for the public and government-funded network that Mitt Romney has already shown some interest in reducing funding for if he is elected President on Tuesday. (We’ll have some nonpartisan coverage of this event from a TV perspective tomorrow.)

Do you think that the entire third season really was worthy of these ratings, and how well do you think that the Christmas special is going to perform this year?