Thursday, July 2, 2026

“Downton Abbey” Bows Out with Biggest Finale Ratings Ever– Almost 10 Million People Watched

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So, dig this. Nearly 10 million people watched the “Downton Abbey” finale on Sunday night. That’s the biggest season ender for that show ever. It was the fourth largest audience for the whole six years.

The bigger headline is that “Downton Abbey” had more viewers on Sunday night than show on network television between 9 and 11 pm.

From 8 to 9, “Madam Secretary” had 10.13 million. Basically, when that show ended, everyone turned to PBS. A few people stayed for “The Good Wife.” But that was it. And no one was disappointed. “Downton Abbey” ended with an Emmy winning episode.

Now all Julian Fellowes and Gareth Neame have to do is figure out how to do a movie that doesn’t seem like a TV show, and do it fast while the cast members still look more or less the same.

 

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009, where he covered Michael Jackson, and previously wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine in the mid-1990s, where he covered the O.J. Simpson trial. He also edited Fame magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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