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

09/11/2025

Dalet Unveils Agentic AI Media Workflows at IBC2025

Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...

30/10/2025

SVG Students To Watch: Sam Newitt, Kansas State University

SVG Students To Watch: Sam Newitt, Kansas State UniversityThe South Dakota native thrives in many roles behind the scenes at K-StateHD.TVBy Brandon Costa, Direc...

30/10/2025

SVG Sit-Down: Swerve Sports' Christy Tanner Explores the Young FAST Channel's Early Success

SVG Sit-Down: Swerve Sports' Christy Tanner Explores the Young FAST Channel&...

30/10/2025

SVG Campus Shot Callers: Andy Liebsch, Senior Director, Video Services, Kansas State University

SVG Campus Shot Callers: Andy Liebsch, Senior Director, Video Services, Kansas S...

30/10/2025

Diversified Names Paul Lidsky CEO, Expanding Leadership Role After Serving as Board Chairman

Diversified Names Paul Lidsky CEO, Expanding Leadership Role After Serving as Bo...

30/10/2025

NBA, Cosm Enter Long-Term Partnership for Shared Reality Production, Distribution

NBA, Cosm Enter Long-Term Partnership for Shared Reality Production, Distributio...

30/10/2025

FanDuel Sports Network to Deliver Select Live NBA, NHL Games to Major Streaming Services for In-Market Viewers

FanDuel Sports Network to Deliver Select Live NBA, NHL Games to Major Streaming ...

30/10/2025

If I Had Legs, I'd Kick You, East of Wall, and More Sundance Institute-Supported Films Nominated for 35th Gotham Awards

As the year comes to a close, we can feel the invigorating wind sweeping in for ...

30/10/2025

Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Max Walker-Silverman, the Writer-Director of Rebuilding

By Bailey Pennick One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festi...

30/10/2025

Excellent training at SGL Carbon's Bonn site

The SGL Carbon site in Bonn has a long tradition of training. For many years, young talent has been successfully trained here, regularly achieving excellent exa...

30/10/2025

SBS, NITV and Screen Australia announce 2025 Digital Originals Shortlist

SBS, NITV and Screen Australia announce 2025 Digital Originals Shortlist 29 October, 2025 Media releases SBS, NITV and Screen Australia are excited to unve...

30/10/2025

Remarks for the 2025 APEC CEO Roundtable

Jon Rambeau, President of Integrated Mission Systems at L3Harris Technologies, speaks about industrial collaboration at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (A...

30/10/2025

L3Harris Technologies Reports Strong Third Quarter 2025 Results, Increases 2025 Guidance

MELBOURNE, Fla., October 30, 2025 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) reports th...

30/10/2025

FCC's Brendan Carr Issues Draft Proposal for More C-Band Spectrum Sales

WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr said he has circulated a proposal for the agency to auction additional midband spectrum in the U...

30/10/2025

Diversified Names Paul Lidsky as CEO

PLANO, Texas Technology solutions provider Diversified has named Paul Lidsky as CEO, tasked with guiding the company's next stage of growth, driving market ...

30/10/2025

Interra Adds Stream Recording, BATON Integration to ORION

CUPERTINO, Calif. Interra Systems today unveiled ORION stream recording support and seamless integration with BATON Media Player, a combination that lets broadc...

30/10/2025

InterDigital Buys AI-Driven Video Codec Startup Deep Render

WILMINGTON, Del. InterDigital today announced the acquisition of Deep Render, an artificial intelligence startup with a team of AI experts focused on video code...

30/10/2025

TAG Video Systems Earns Two ESG Recognitions

NEW YORK TAG Video Systems has earned a higher-rated Digital Product Passport (DPP) Committed to Sustainability badge and the Aclymate Climate Wise Silver Tier ...

30/10/2025

Nexstar Extends Employment Agreement with Perry Sook Through 2029

IRVING, Texas As station groups move into an era that promises rapid tech, regulatory and economic changes, the Nexstar Media Group, Inc. has announced that its...

30/10/2025

Samba TV: 60% Of TV Time Spent Viewing Streaming Content

Television viewers are spending more time watching streaming content than linear TV, but sports continues to be a bright spot for broadcasters, according to the...

30/10/2025

Operative Media Names Mike Napadano as CEO

NEW YORK Advertising technology company Operative Media has named Mike Napadano as its new CEO....

30/10/2025

Walmart Selects Marshall Cameras to Power New Campus Broa...

Walmart Inc. has chosen Marshall Electronics cameras for use across its brand-new corporate campus studios and event center. The installation includes Marshall ...

30/10/2025

NETGEAR Academy Expands Into Industry-Wide IP Training Pl...

NETGEAR, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTGR), a global leader in intelligent networking solutions designed to power extraordinary experiences, today announced the launch of its...

30/10/2025

Clear-Com Gen-IC Virtual Intercom Connects Students World...

Clear-Com recently contributed its award-winning Gen-IC virtual intercom solution to power real-time communications for On-Air Student TV, a 24-hour global st...

30/10/2025

Maxon Strengthens Growth Strategy with Appointment of Kse...

Maxon, maker of powerful, approachable software solutions for creators working in 2D and 3D design, motion graphics, visual effects, and more, today announced t...

30/10/2025

Studio Technologies Dante Enabled Model 394 GPI Interface...

Studio Technologies, a leading manufacturer of high-quality audio, video, and fiber-optic solutions, announces that its new Model 394 GPI Interface and Model 39...

30/10/2025

Astro selects Broadpeak for high performance streaming an...

Broadpeak , a leader in streaming and monetization at scale, has been selected by leading Malaysian content and entertainment company Astro to enable two major ...

30/10/2025

Riedel Communications Appoints Ulrich Voigt as Director L...

Riedel Communications is pleased to announce that Ulrich Voigt has joined the company as Director Live Production Solutions, taking over the SimplyLive business...

30/10/2025

LiveU and Kinetiq Launch Cloud Native Watermarking Integr...

LiveU, the global leader in live IP-video contribution, production, and distribution, today announced a new partnership with Kinetiq, the AI-powered platform un...

30/10/2025

FCC Plans Nov. 20 Open Meeting, Provides Shutdown Update

WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr has called for an end to the government shutdown while providing some updates on the agency'...

30/10/2025

Carr Issues Draft Proposal for More C-Band Spectrum Sales

WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr has announced that he has circulated a proposal for the FCC to auction additional mid-band spect...

30/10/2025

U&GOLD LAUNCHES ITS ANNUAL SEARCH FOR THE UK'S BEST CHRISTMAS CRACKER' JOKES

TIS THE SEASON TO GET PUNNY! U&GOLD LAUNCHES ITS ANNUAL SEARCH FOR THE UK'S...

30/10/2025

Rohde & Schwarz enables MediaTeks 6G waveform verification with CMP180 radio communication tester

Rohde & Schwarz enables MediaTeks 6G waveform verification with CMP180 radio com...

30/10/2025

Fox Corporation Reports First Quarter Fiscal 2026 Financial Results

Fox Corporation Reports First Quarter Fiscal 2026 Financial Results NEW YORK, NY, October 30, 2025 - Fox Corporation (Nasdaq: FOXA, FOX; FOX or the Company...

30/10/2025

Tubi Media Group and Audiochuck Announce Exclusive Partnership

Tubi Media Group and Audiochuck Announce Exclusive Partnership Tubi Media Group Enters into a Multi-Year Ad Partnership Deal with Ashley Flowers' Award-Wi...

30/10/2025

Comscore Appoints a new Country Manager for APAC

Comscore Appoints a new Country Manager for APACNEW DELHI, INDIA, October 30, 2025 Comscore (Nasdaq: SCOR), a global leader in measuring and analysing consum...

30/10/2025

October 29, 2025

Scripps Research professor awarded $3.2 million to advance type 1 diabetes research Support from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Dis...

30/10/2025

RT Concert Orchestra November/December 2025

RT Concert Orchestra in November and December Collaborations with RT Radio 1's Sunday Miscellany (2 December) and RT 2FM's Late Breakfast (9 Decembe...

30/10/2025

MUIREANN O' CONNELL, NEIL DELAMERE AND MICHAEL CONLON JOIN THE LADS FOR THE 2 JOHNNIES LATE NIGHT LOCK IN

Johnny B and Johnny Smacks are back tonight for the second episode of the new se...

30/10/2025

Jon Bon Jovi, Miriam O'Callaghan, Davy Fitzgerald and Donncha O'Callaghan join the Late Late Show Halloween Line-Up

First look of Jon Bon Jovi's interview with Patrick Kielty Jon Bon Jovi is ...

30/10/2025

AI-Powered Mobile Clinics Deliver Breast Cancer Screening to India's Rural Communities

An unassuming van driving around rural India uses powerful AI technology that...

30/10/2025

Join the Resistance: ARC Raiders' Launches in the Cloud

Get ready, raiders - the wait is over. ARC Raiders is dropping onto GeForce NOW and bringing the fight from orbit to the screen. To celebrate the launch, gamer...

29/10/2025

MLS, EDGE Sound Research To Debut Immersive Embodied Sound' at LAFC vs. Austin FC Playoff Match

MLS, EDGE Sound Research To Debut Immersive Embodied Sound' at LAFC vs. Aus...

29/10/2025

SVG Remote Production Forum 2025: All Sessions Now Available to Watch on SVG PLAY

SVG Remote Production Forum 2025: All Sessions Now Available to Watch on SVG PLA...

29/10/2025

World Series 2025: How Audio Is Transported Around the Sites and Beyond

World Series 2025: How Audio Is Transported Around the Sites and BeyondThe signals also move not just between two countries but around the globeBy Dan Daley, Au...

29/10/2025

Inside the Archives: Celebrating Archives Month Through Sundance Film Festival Films

A still from 306 Hollywood, a film by sibling filmmakers Jonathan Bogar n and El...

29/10/2025

New research shows sense of belonging is growing stronger among multilingual Australians

New research shows sense of belonging is growing stronger among multilingual Aus...

29/10/2025

SBS, NITV and Screen Australia announce2025 Digital Originals Shortlist

SBS, NITV and Screen Australia announce2025 Digital Originals Shortlist 29 October, 2025 Media releases SBS, NITV and Screen Australia are excited to unvei...