‘Killing Kennedy’ Slays Nat Geo Ratings Record

National Geographic Channel’s Killing Kennedy original movie drew a record 3.4 million viewers Sunday during its premiere, network officials said.

The tele-movie, based on Bill O’Reilly’s best-selling book about the assassination of President Kennedy, matched the 3.4 million viewers garnered by the Feb. 17 debut of Killing Lincoln. Further, the 1.1 household rating among adults 25-54 also matched the audience in the demo for Killing Lincoln and was 175% higher than the network’s Sunday 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. average thus far in 2013, said network officials.

On the social media front, Nat Geo’s website experienced a record 2.1 million total page views Sunday night, and 9.8 million total page views over the past three weeks, Nat Geo said.  

R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.