Season Premiere of DOCTOR WHO Sees Major Growth Over Previous Year

BBC AMERICA'S new season of Doctor Who, featuring Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth and first female Doctor, drew 1.4 million viewers and 658,000 Adults 25-54 in its 1:45pm global premiere. Doctor Who now ranks as the fastest growing drama on TV this year with a +48% increase over the previous season premiere in Nielsen live/same day ratings. The season opener ranked as the #1 program in its timeslot across all of cable in the target demos and was the #1 most searched program and #1 most talked about program on social media with 93% positive sentiment. The new season is now Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

Whittaker's premiere more than doubled Peter Capaldi's final episode, while exceeding the debuts of David Tennant and Matt Smith.

Including the primetime special and same-day encores, the new season premiere episode has already grossed over 2.6 million Total Viewers and 1.2 million Adults 25-54 - the highest sampling for a Doctor Who season premiere since the series reboot over a decade ago.

Doctor Who premiered as part of a Global Simulcast at 1:45pm ET/10:45am PT on Sunday, October 7th and screened at Madison Square Garden as part of New York Comic Con.

"At the unlikely time of 1:45pm, fans and new viewers came together at New York Comic Con and around the country for a global simulcast, and embraced this fresh era of Doctor Who. To see such growth for a 55-year-old franchise is rather unusual and entirely brilliant," said BBC America President and GM Sarah Barnett. "Jodie Whittaker plays The Doctor with great gusto, power, humor and charisma. She, along with Chris Chibnall and Matt Strevens, have ushered in a new Who that is inclusive and thrilling."

With a new Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) and new friends Ryan (Tosin Cole), Yasmin (Mandip Gill) and Graham (Bradley Walsh), this first season from new showrunner Chris Chibnall and executive producer Matt Strevens welcomes back fans and invites those who are new to Who. The new season is packed full of action, humor, emotion, and adventures through space and time. Doctor Who is a BBC America co-production with BBC Studios.

The next episode of Doctor Who airs Sunday, October 14th at 8/7c. Still reeling from their first encounter, can the Doctor and her new friends stay alive long enough in a hostile alien environment to solve the mystery of Desolation? And just who are Angstrom and Epzo? The episode will guest star Shaun Dooley, Susan Lynch, and Art Malik.

The series premieres Sundays at 8/7c on BBC AMERICA.

Episode 1 is available now on VOD, BBC America app and bbcamerica.com.

Source: Nielsen, Live+SD, 10/7/18. DOCTOR WHO S11 Simulcast = 1:45p ET / 10:45a PT. Fastest-Growing Drama = 2018-TD season premiere vs prior season premiere, P2+. Cable Timeslot Rank = Sun 1:45p-3:15p (strict), A25-54 & A18-49. Previous Doctor Comparison vs first/last regular season episode, P2+. DOCTOR WHO S11 Premiere Day Gross = simulcast + 5 same-day encores. Social = ListenFirst Conversation Score, Search Index, and US Twitter Sentiment.

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