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State of the Screens

‘Downton Abbey,’ ‘Breaking Bad’ and the Rise of the Peak TV Movie

By September 26, 2019No Comments

Interesting: The quality of scripted television has become so good that studios are making two-hour-long episodes and calling them movies!

Estimated production cost:
1) 
Downton Abbey movie – $17M
2) 
1 hour of scripted TV – $8M – $15M

Other movies based on TV shows in development:
1) Breaking Bad
2) Sopranos
3) The Walking Dead

Downton Abbey box office revenue:
1) 
Domestic – $31.0M
2) 
International – $30.8M
3) 
Total – $61.8M

Key details for Downton Abbey’s movie/television audience:
1) 8.9M average viewers per episode during the final season
2) The average age was between 60 and 63 over six-season run
3) 52% of movie ticket viewers were 55+

Movie ticket share from 55+ according to comScore:
1)
 2002 – 11%
2) 2019 – 6%

Video: ‘Downton Abbey’ Trailer

Michael Beach

Michael Beach is the Chief Executive Officer of Cross Screen Media, a media analytics and software company that enables marketers to plan, activate, and measure CTV and linear TV at the local level. Michael is also the founder and editor of State of the Screens, a weekly newsletter focused on video advertising that is a must-read for thought leaders in the advertising industry. He has appeared in such publications as PBS Frontline, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Axios, CNBC and Bloomberg, and on NPR’s Planet Money podcast.