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‘Downton Abbey’ Season 2 premiere doubles PBS ratings

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PBS has dressed up ‘Downton Abbey’ into its biggest hit in years.

Monday’s Season 2 premiere of the tart British period satire averaged 4.2 million total viewers, according to Nielsen. And that doesn’t include viewers who watched later station replays or on a DVR.

That was double PBS’ usual prime-time average and 18% higher than ‘Downton’s’ first-season average, according to a press release from WGBH-TV, the Boston PBS-member station that presents the series as part of the ‘Masterpiece Classic’ brand. NBC Universal coproduces the series.

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It’s also higher than the numbers for some other ‘prestige’ dramas, including AMC’s ‘Mad Men,’ which averaged fewer than 3 million viewers in its fourth season (it returns for Season 5 later this year).

Trackers, what do you think of ‘Downton’? Sound off in the comments.

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-- Scott Collins (twitter.com/scottcollinsLAT)

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