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    PBS touts 2013-’14 ratings growth

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    In this Nov. 2, 2013 file photo, documentary filmmaker Ken Burns walks through the museum at the Georgia home used by former President Franklin D. Roosevelt in Warm Springs, Ga. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)

    By Lynn Elber, Television Writer

    LOS ANGELES (AP) --

    PBS' average prime-time household rating for the 2013-14 season was up 5 percent over the year before, the public TV service said Wednesday.

    Among all broadcast and cable networks, PBS said it ranked fifth in the Nielsen audience measurement, compared with eighth for the previous season and 11th for 2011-12.

    Two prominent families, the Roosevelts and the Crawleys, helped out. Ken Burns' documentary series "The Roosevelts: An Intimate History," and season four of "Downton Abbey" aired during the 12-month period concluding last month.

    "The Roosevelts" earned PBS its biggest audience in two decades, while British drama "Downton Abbey" ranked as the highest-rated drama in public TV's history. The British soap opera returns Jan. 4.

    Beth Hoppe, PBS' chief programming executive, said the audience growth also reflects a strong overall schedule, one that groups programs of similar genres on the same night to keep viewers tuned in.

    While blockbusters like "The Roosevelts" count, it's about "paying attention to every time slot every day of the week," Hoppe said.

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    Tags:Ken BurnsPBS



    Actor Anthony Head, known for “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Ted Lasso,” dies at 72

    Friday, June 5, 2026
    Anthony Head arrives for the European premiere of 'The Iron Lady' on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Jonathan Short, File)

    Anthony Head, the suave, smooth-voiced British actor known for roles in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Ted Lasso," has died, his family said Friday. He was 72.

    Head's daughters, actors Emily and Daisy Head, told the Press Association news agency that the actor passed away due to complications from pneumonia.

    The stage and TV performer became well known to British audiences in the 1980s as one half of a will-they, won't-they romantic couple in a series of ads for Nescafe Gold Blend instant coffee. The ads were later re-shot for a U.S. audience for Taster's Choice.

    Head achieved wider fame as librarian Rupert Giles, mentor to the title character in the cult-favorite supernatural series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," which ran from 1997 to 2003.

    He most recently played Rupert Mannion, the villainous ex-husband of Hannah Waddingham's character Rebecca, in "Ted Lasso."

    "Our grief is far greater than the hole he has left behind, but we know his legacy will live on, in the shows he was a part of, and in the audiences that love them," his daughters said. "How lucky we are to know we are able to watch him doing what he loved, even when he is no longer with us."

    Head was born in London on Feb. 20, 1954 to Seafield Head, a documentary filmmaker, and Helen Shingler, an actor. His older brother, Murray, is also an actor.

    Other notable roles included playing Geoffrey Howe, the deputy to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, played by Meryl Streep, in the Oscar-winning "The Iron Lady."

    Head portrayed a prime minister himself in the sketch comedy show "Little Britain," as well as King Uther Pendragon, the father of Prince Arthur, in the "Merlin" TV series. He also appeared in "Motherland," Manchild," and "Silent Witness," along... Read More

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