"The Bible" Miniseires on the History Channel Wins Ratings Battle

By Matt Lloyd, BREATHEcast News Reporter

Mar 09, 2013 12:59 PM EST

the, bible, miniseries, ratings, history, channel

(Photo : World Entertainment) The Bible

The History Channel has been making a programming over haul in the past few years. Since the channel first starting broadcasting in 1995, they have been mostly known for WWII and documentaries about the likes of Hitler, Churchill and other historical figures. Executive vice president of development and programming for The History Channel, Dirk Hoogstra, has noted that feedback from their viewers over the years is what has given them the confidence to branch out and develop original series that their viewing audience would receive well.

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Last year they debuted "Hatfield and McCoy" to very successful ratings and this year they wanted to push even further. They eventually landed on a new original series called "Vikings" and taking on the entertainment misfit, a mini-series on the bible.

"The Bible" executive producers Mark Burnell ("Survivor, "The Voice") and Roma Downey ("Touched by an Angel") pushed for this project to happen. The couple have been planning for over 4 years to make it a reality.

After the research and feedback done by The History Channel to see where their viewers interest lie, executives knew they needed to use social media to get the word out. The network, along with Burnett and Downey, reached out to conservative sites and pastors with strong social media presence across the country. The plan worked, as they got many of the countries most influential churches and pastors to support and promote the up coming series such as T.D Jakes, Rick Warren and Craig Groeschel. Joel Osteen, pastor of Houston's Lakewood church, the country's largest church, had a screening for the series with his 40,000-member congregation in January and is now in the middle of a seven-week promotional effort.

The gamble taken by The History Channel to support and develop "The Bible" series ended up being a huge ratings success, becoming the highest rated cable original series of the year and the highest rated show ever on their network.