"The Bible," a 10-hour live-action miniseries that debuted Sunday night
on the History Channel, is posting some heavenly Nielsen ratings,
despite a poor response from the nation's TV critics.
13.1 million viewers watched the 8-10 p.m. premiere. This makes it the most-watched
entertainment program on cable since the History Channel’s own “Hatfields &
McCoys” wrapped its impressive three-night run in late May 2012 with 14.3
million for its initial airing.
No program on TV drew more viewers Sunday than “The Bible.” CBS’ “60
Minutes” drew the largest audience on the broadcast networks (11.9
million).
Four more episodes of the miniseries will be broadcast each Sunday night this month.
The series was produced by actress Roma Downey, of "Touched by an Angel" fame, and Mark Burnett, producer of reality TV shows like "Survivor" and "The Amazing Race."
"We've been working on this project for the past four years now, and are deeply honored to be given this once in a generation opportunity to breathe new visual life into the Bible's profound stories," the couple says in a statement.
