Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Ken Burns and Lynn Novick's THE VIETNAM WAR Seen by 39 Million Viewers

12/04/2018

All 10 Episodes Streamed 10 Million Times Between September and December, Most Ever for Burns/Novick Film

- Nearly 2 Million Streams in Vietnam -

ARLINGTON, VA; April 12, 2018 - PBS today announced the final national ratings for Ken Burns and Lynn Novick's THE VIETNAM WAR, the epic documentary film that premiered on Sunday, September 17, 2017 on PBS stations nationwide. The first five episodes aired nightly from Sunday, September 17, through Thursday, September 21, and the final five episodes aired nightly from Sunday, September 24, through Thursday, September 28.

According to Nielsen Live +7 data, THE VIETNAM WAR reached 39 million unique viewers across its premiere and encore telecasts. During its 10-night premiere run, the film delivered an average audience of 6.7 million P2+ (an average household rating of 4.4). This makes THE VIETNAM WAR the second-highest-rated Burns/Novick film of the past two decades, following THE WAR (2007). In addition, THE VIETNAM WAR's first six episodes brought a close to the Nielsen 2016-2017 broadcast year and were the highest-rated PBS telecasts of the season.

The premiere episode of THE VIETNAM WAR was PBS' most-watched telecast since the series finale of DOWNTON ABBEY ON MASTERPIECE in March 2016. The episode earned a national household rating of 6.0, more than 300 percent greater than PBS' average primetime rating.

Between September 17 and December 31, all ten episodes streamed 10 million times across PBS owned platforms and YouTube, making THE VIETNAM WAR the most-streamed Ken Burns series ever, delivering more than four times the streams of THE ROOSEVELTS. In a first, in addition to a Spanish-language version of the series, PBS also offered a Vietnamese-subtitled version of the series for streaming, which was also made available in Vietnam, that has been viewed 1.9 million times to date.

The series has so far been seen in 88 countries. In Germany, the series was streamed more than 1.5 million times, and in France it was streamed more than 1 million times. Further, THE VIETNAM WAR has been a best-selling title on Amazon, iTunes and ShopPBS.org.

THE VIETNAM WAR is currently available on Blu-ray and DVD from PBS Distribution at shopPBS.org. The DVD and Blu-ray extras include a 45-minute preview program, two special segments on the contemporary lives of two of the program's participants, and deleted scenes. The series is also available for digital download.

Funding for THE VIETNAM WAR is provided by Bank of America; Corporation for Public Broadcasting; PBS; David H. Koch; The Blavatnik Family Foundation; Park Foundation; The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations; The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation; The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; National Endowment for the Humanities; The Pew Charitable Trusts; Ford Foundation Just Films; Rockefeller Brothers Fund; and Members of The Better Angels Society:

Jonathan & Jeannie Lavine, Diane & Hal Brierley, Amy & David Abrams, John & Catherine Debs, Fullerton Family Charitable Fund, The Montrone Family, Lynda & Stewart Resnick, The Golkin Family Foundation, The Lynch Foundation, The Roger & Rosemary Enrico Foundation, Richard S. & Donna L. Strong Foundation, Bonnie & Tom McCloskey, Barbara K. & Cyrus B. Sweet III, The Lavender Butterfly Fund.

THE VIETNAM WAR is a production of Florentine Films and WETA, Washington, DC. Directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. Written by Geoffrey C. Ward. Produced by Sarah Botstein, Lynn Novick and Ken Burns.

About PBS

PBS, with nearly 350 member stations, offers all Americans the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds through television and digital content. Each month, PBS reaches nearly 100 million people through television and nearly 28 million people online, inviting them to experience the worlds of science, history, nature and public affairs; to hear diverse viewpoints; and to take front row seats to world-class drama and performances. PBS' broad array of programs has been consistently honored by the industry's most coveted award competitions. Teachers of children from pre-K through 12th grade turn to PBS for digital content and services that help bring classroom lessons to life. Decades of research confirms that PBS' premier children's media service, PBS KIDS, helps children build critical literacy, math and social-emotional skills, enabling them to find success in school and life. Delivered through member stations, PBS KIDS offers high-quality educational content on TV - including a new 24/7 channel, online at pbskids.org, via an array of mobile apps and in communities across America. More information about PBS is available at www.pbs.org, one of the leading dot-org websites on the internet, or by following PBS on Twitter, Facebook or through our apps for mobile and connected devices. Specific program information and updates for press are available at pbs.org/pressroom or by following PBS Pressroom on Twitter.

About WETA

WETA Washington, DC, is one of the largest producing stations of new content for public television in the United States. WETA productions and co-productions include PBS NewsHour, Washington Week, The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize, The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, Latino Americans and The Italian Americans; documentaries by filmmaker Ken Burns, including The Civil War, Baseball, The National Parks: America's Best Idea, The Roosevelts: An Intimate History and The Vietnam War; and productions by Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr., including Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (Season Three), Black America Since MLK: And Still I Rise and Africa's Great Civilizations. WETA presentations include Martha Stewart's Cooking School, Pati's Mexican Table, Sara's Weeknight Meals, Globe Trekker and Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. Sharon Percy Rockefeller is pre
LINK: http://www.pbs.org/about/blogs/news/ken-burns-and-lynn-novicks-the-vie...
See more stories from pbs

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

06/09/2026

Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Germany with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos

June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

19/06/2026

NBC Sports U.S. Open Coverage Fires Up 92 Cameras, Bunker cams

Split compound eases operational challenges at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club...

19/06/2026

ESPN's Men's College World Series Production Adds Onsite Studio, POVORA CapCams, Expanded Drone Coverage for Finale in Omaha

North Carolina, Oklahoma meet in the best-of-three Finals as ESPN leans into spe...

19/06/2026

Ninja AB from The Him DSP

Company launch comprehensive mix-comparison tool The Him DSP are a plug-in company founded by The Him, an EDM DJ and producer who has amassed over half a bi...

19/06/2026

Bitwig Studio 6.1 enters beta testing

Major Sampler upgrades introduced The latest version of Bitwig's DAW software has just entered public beta testing, and is available now for all users w...

19/06/2026

Akai Pro's MPC One & MPC Key 37 get G2 upgrade

Four times the power of their predecessors Akai Pro have just introduced upgraded versions of two of their popular standalone MPC systems, kitting them out ...

19/06/2026

Eurovision secures top four position as content distributor rankings hold steady in Poland

Data from May shows seasonal outdoor trends triggers lower viewing Warsaw, Pola...

19/06/2026

Bitfocus Buttons wins another top industry award

Buttons is best control system in the rAVe Best of Infocomm Awards 2026...

19/06/2026

Mavis Studio Makes iPad Production More Powerful

Mavis Studio Makes iPad Production More Powerful Brie Clayton June 19, 2026 0 Comments InfoComm update brings new NDI Preview, PTZ control, USB audio ...

19/06/2026

Immersive Studio Metaverse Stage Tackles Post with Blackmagic Design

Immersive Studio Metaverse Stage Tackles Post with Blackmagic Design Brie Clayton June 19, 2026 0 Comments New narrative projects rely on DaVinci Reso...

19/06/2026

How to Run the Original 1993 After Effects

How to Run the Original 1993 After Effects Graham Quince June 19, 2026 0 Comments How to the original After Effects v1 in an emulator, and you don'...

19/06/2026

IBC Show to Increase Focus on Networking, Startups

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

19/06/2026

Irdeto Taps Axel Gallant as CEO

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

19/06/2026

SMPTE Makes Its Standards Freely Accessible - Opening St...

SMPTE , the home of media professionals, technologists and engineers, has announced that its entire Standards catalog is now freely available to the global medi...

19/06/2026

nsign and BrightSign partner to expand deployment options...

nsign, the digital signage SaaS platform built around its core principle of Simplify Complexity, has announced a partnership with BrightSign , expanding the dep...

19/06/2026

Visual Productions Unveils RdmRelay2 Four-channel Relay...

Visual Productions announces the availability of its new RdmRelay2 at InfoComm 2026 (ACT Entertainment, Booth N6813). A networked, four-channel DMX relay, it is...

19/06/2026

Adobe Unveils Major Expansion of Creative Agent Across Firefly and Creative Cloud Apps Including Photoshop and Premiere

Adobe Unveils Major Expansion of Creative Agent Across Firefly and Creative Clou...

19/06/2026

Immersive Studio Metaverse Stage Innovates Storytelling with URSA Cine Immersive

Immersive Studio Metaverse Stage Innovates Storytelling with URSA Cine Immersive Brie Clayton June 18, 2026 0 Comments Two new narrative short films c...

19/06/2026

How to watch the 2026/27 Premier League season on Sky Sports

Friday 19 June 2026 How to watch the 2026/27 Premier League season on Sky Sports Which matches are Sky Sports showing on the 2026/27 Premier League opening we...

19/06/2026

What's New at FilmLight? New York. 8 July 2026

Catch up on the latest developments across Baselight and Daylight v7, Nara and FilmLight API Wednesday 8 July, 5pm onwards Firehouse: DCTV, 87 Lafayette St, Ne...

19/06/2026

June 18, 2026

Lab studies explain how new cancer drug works as it enters patient testing Immunologists at Scripps Research show how a new, experimental drug revives immune ce...

18/06/2026

Ratings Roundup: Knicks-Spurs NBA Finals Is Most Watched Since Jordan Bulls Era; FIFA World Cup Opens Big

Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...

18/06/2026

InfoComm 2026: PTZOptics Debuts Healthcare Visual Reasoning Integration with LayerJot

PTZOptics has unveiled new Visual Reasoning demonstrations at InfoComm 2026 (Boo...

18/06/2026

IBC 2026: Announces New Future Tech Ignite Initiative, Expanded Exhibitor Participation

IBC2026 will take place at the RAI Amsterdam from September 11-14, bringing toge...

18/06/2026

InfoComm 2026 Holds Inaugural Media Day with Product Announcements from 19 Exhibitors

InfoComm 2026 held its first-ever Media Day on June 17, providing journalists an...

18/06/2026

Info Comm 2026: FOR-A America Announces TAA-Compliant LED Display Package

FOR-A America has announced a Trade Agreements Act (TAA)-compliant LED display solution combining Alfalite's Litepix LED displays and Brompton Technology...

18/06/2026

SVG GameDay, Ep. 20: Cleveland Browns Kyle Millen - Run of Shows & Rock n Roll

In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level have one major thing in common: the intensity and attention to detail ramps up dur...

18/06/2026

International Federation of American Football, TMRW Sports Partner on Global Growth of Flag Football

The International Federation of American Football (IFAF) and TMRW Sports have an...

18/06/2026

AJA Debuts Io Xpand Thunderbolt 5 Expansion Chassis for KONA and Corvid PCIe I/O Cards

AJA Video Systems has unveiled Io Xpand, a Thunderbolt 5-enabled PCIe expansion ...

18/06/2026

ESPN Marks 30th Anniversary of WNBA's Inaugural Game With Liberty-Sparks Broadcast

ESPN has announced its coverage plans for the 30th anniversary of the WNBA's...

18/06/2026

FOX Sports' Big Noon Kickoff Heads to London for Union Jack Classic From Wembley Stadium

FOX Sports' Big Noon Kickoff will broadcast live from Wembley Stadium in Lon...

18/06/2026

InfoComm 2026: Show Opens With Microsoft Keynote, Media Day, and New Industry Initiatives

InfoComm 2026 opened on Wednesday at the Las Vegas Convention Center, bringing t...

18/06/2026

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Akta's Matt Smith on Building AI Into the Foundation of the Video Workflow

As media companies look to deliver more live, VOD, and snackable sports content ...

18/06/2026

2026 Sundance Film Festival: Local Lens

Top L-R: Take Me Home, The Lake Bottom L-R: TheyDream, Union County Free Summer Screening Series Announced Screenings for the Local Utah Community at...

18/06/2026

iamReverb gets an update

Improvements & new IR content iamReverb Audio have just launched a free update that kits their convolution reverb plug-in out with some new features and int...

18/06/2026

Two notes unveil Genome 2.0

Modelling suite gains improved captures, iOS support & more Two notes Audio Engineering have just announced the launch of Genome 2.0, a significant update t...

18/06/2026

VSL update Vienna Ensemble Pro 8

New AI assistance feature, video overhaul & more VSL have just announced the launch of Vienna Ensemble Pro 8.1 and 8.1V, a pair of major updates to their ev...

18/06/2026

The Gauge: Poland | May 2026

The average daily TV screen time in May was 3 hours and 36 minutes, marking a clear decrease of 15 minutes compared to April. This trend proved to be much stron...

18/06/2026

Gracenote and PubMatic Bring Curated Live Sports and Content-Level Deals to Programmatic CTV

Integration embeds Gracenote content intelligence, including contextual segments...

18/06/2026

AJA Debuts Io Xpand Thunderbolt 5 Expansion Chassis for...

AJA Video Systems unveiled Io Xpand, a high-performance Thunderbolt 5-enabled PCIe expansion chassis for AJA KONA and Corvid video and audio I/O cards. As dema...

18/06/2026

Providius Announces Providius Direct for Faster AV-over-I...

New NVRT-driven workflow enables on-demand traffic mirroring and guided troubleshooting for AV teams, integrators, and support organizations ahead of InfoComm 2...

18/06/2026

Mavis Studio Brings New Muscle to Mobile Production on iP...

At InfoComm 2026, Mavis announced a major update to Mavis Studio, its live production app for the iPad, with new features designed to make professional AV produ...

18/06/2026

Harmonic Completes Divestiture of Video Business to Media...

Transaction Positions Harmonic as a Pure-Play Broadband Company Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ: HLIT), the worldwide leader in virtualized broadband solutions, today a...

18/06/2026

ACT Entertainment and NETGEAR Partner to Power the Futur...

ACT Entertainment and NETGEAR have announced a strategic partnership that establishes verified interoperability between NETGEAR Switches and key technologies fr...

18/06/2026

IBC2026 creates new pathways from innovation to real-worl...

IBC2026 is set to bring the global media, entertainment and technology community together at the RAI Amsterdam from 11 14 September, enabling industry players f...

18/06/2026

PLIANT TECHNOLOGIES DEBUTS CREWCOM FLEX THE WORLDS FIRST...

Pliant Technologies is proud to introduce CrewCom Flex , the world's first frameless matrix intercom system and the only complete matrix IP-based intercom s...

18/06/2026

XR Sports Alliance Strengthens its Capabilities with New...

The XR Sports Alliance (XRSA) has announced that a new cohort of members has joined the strategic initiative: ActionStreamer, Antigravity, Creative Artists Agen...