Audiences tuned in in record-breaking numbers to National Geographic Channel’s Killing Lincoln, opting to spend Presidents’ Day weekend with the 16th President of the United States. The first original “factual drama” to air on NGC brought in an average of 3.4 million viewers over its two-hour February 17th premiere, the highest total viewership in the history of the network.
And for those who missed it, NGC will be rerunning the drama on February 23rd at 7pm ET/PT and 9pm ET/PT.
Billy Campbell (The Killing) took on the pivotal role of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln with Jesse Johnson playing his assassin, John Wilkes Booth. The cast also included Geraldine Hughes as Mary Todd Lincoln, Graham Beckel as Edwin Stanton, and Shawn Pyfrom as Private John W. Nichols. Adrian Moat (Gettysburg) directed the film which was adapted for the small screen by Erik Jendresen (Band of Brothers) from Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard’s book.
Oscar-winner Tom Hanks narrated the two hour drama produced by Ridley and Tony Scott’s Scott Free Productions and Mark Herzog’s Herzog & Co. Lending to its authenticity, the production was actually shot on location in Richmond, Virginia.
Commenting on the successful debut, National Geographic Channels President Howard T. Owens said, “Killing Lincoln was our latest effort to expand the original programming we present on the National Geographic Channel, while still maintaining the brand values viewers expect from us. The success we saw last night proved that authentic and entertaining are not mutually exclusive, and I think we’ve tapped into a new genre of factual drama that clearly resonates with our audience.
Our record ratings would not have been possible without our partnership with Bill O’Reilly, Scott Free Productions and the incredible team that worked on this production.”
“Howard walked into the office on his first day with this book in his hand, and 16 months later to have this success is a true testament to his vision and drive to make this work for our network,” added David Lyle, CEO National Geographic Channels. “Lincoln is clearly enjoying a resurgence in the national zeitgeist, and this demonstrates once again that our viewers are hungry for entertaining, culturally relevant programming.”
“David, Howard and the entire team at National Geographic Channel believed in this project since day one, and were incredibly passionate to make this film work on all levels,” said Ridley Scott. “We could not be more pleased that viewers responded in this way, and look forward to raising the bar even higher with our next collaboration, Killing Kennedy.”
