'Downton' Season 3 Sets PBS Record The third season of "Downton Abbey" was even more popular than previously believed. The season's seven episodes averaged 11.5 million viewers a week, PBS said Tuesday after it received updated Nielsen numbers that included digital video recorder playback. Earlier numbers suggested that seven million to eight million viewers had tuned in for each episode. The total audience - up about 65 percent from the second season - makes the third season of "Downton" the most popular drama ever televised by PBS. The show's online viewership was counted separately. But there, too, a record was set: the public broadcaster said there were 900,000 video streams on the "Masterpiece" Web site the day after the Season 3 finale, the most for the site.