“Downton Abbey” Season 3 finale averages 8.2 million viewers

PBS announced today that the much-buzzed-about final episode of Downton Abbey Season 3, which aired in the United States this past Sunday, drew an average audience of 8.2 million viewers, according to Nielsen Fast National data, with a 5.2 household rating. The finale for Downton Abbey Season 3 was 50 percent above the Downton Abbey Season 2 finale (5.4 million viewers, 3.5 household Fast National rating) from February 2012.

According to PBS, Downton Abbey Season 3 consistently drew an audience of more than quadruple the PBS primetime average, and it exceeded the average rating of Downton Abbey Season 2 by 66 percent, based on metered market averages.

PBS also quoted numbers from SocialGuide saying that there were nearly 80,000 Downton Abbey-related tweets (a lot of distraught ones, from what we saw) sent out during the Season 3 finale on Feb. 17, making it the second-most tweeted-about series (broadcast or cable) on television that night.

PBS expects Final, Live+7 ratings for the Downton Abbey Season 3 finale to be available in about three weeks.

Did you watch the Downton Abbey Season 3 finale? What did you think?

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Courtesy of © Giles Keyte/Carnival Film & Television Limited 2012 for Masterpiece