While most millennials soaked in the uplifting Black Girls Rock 2015 on Sunday, a great deal of the country’s baby boomers were taking in Bill O’Reilly’s television adaptation of his book, Killing Jesus, which premiered on National Geographic.
After countless years of wildlife coverage and intense documentaries, Killing Jesus stands as the channel’s biggest event in its long-running history.
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National Geographic Channel’s adaptation of Bill O’Reilly’s book Killing Jesus, nabbed 3.7 million viewers across Sunday night — the biggest audience in history. The channel noted that the 8 PM premiere’s 1.0 rating in adults 25-54 is the highest rating for that demo since the net’s November 2013 premiere of O’Reilly’s Killing Kennedy, which clocked a 1.1, and 300% higher than NatGeo’s Sunday 8-11 PM average this calendar year.
The film also premiered last night on Nat Geo Mundo in the U.S., and will air globally in 171 countries. And, Fox News Channel will repeat Killing Jesus this Friday at 8 PM and on Easter Sunday at 8 PM.
Fox News Channel star O’Reilly wrote Killing Jesus with Martin Dugard. Their two earlier books, Killing Kennedy and Killing Lincoln, also were adapted for NatGeo and had been the two most watched programs in the network’s history until last night’s Killing Jesus unveiling. Killing Kennedy nabbed 3.4 million viewers in its November 2013 launch, and Killing Lincoln had clocked 3.35 mil in February 2013. Before the Killing franchise came NatGeo’s way, NatGeo’s largest crowd came way back in August 2005 with Inside 9/11 which had logged an initial 3 mil.
Killing Jesus has been accused of containing historical inaccuracies by O’Reilly’s rival CNN outlet, which, coincidentally, the adaptation is produced by Ridley Scott, who got accused of the same thing for his last film, Exodus: Gods and Kings.
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Photo: National Geographic
