Christian Retailing

Audiences 'embraced' 'The Bible' miniseries, DVD released Print Email
Written by Eric Tiansay   
Wednesday, 03 April 2013 09:08 AM America/New_York

More than 100 million viewers watched The Bible TV miniseries, which aired Sundays last month on the History Channel—culminating on Easter, March 31.

The conclusion of the epic drew 11.7 million viewers, with 12.3 million watching the final hour and edging the finale for The Walking Dead (12.29 million) and the premiere of Game of Thrones (4.4 million), The Hollywood Reporter reported. More than 13 million viewers watched the first episode of the 10-hour miniseries, the highest-rated cable show of the year, and it consistently garnered 10 million viewers for each episode.

Survivor creator Mark Burnett and his actress wife, Roma Downey, of Touched by an Angel fame, produced the miniseries of major Bible stories, from Noah's ark and the Exodus to the death and resurrection of Jesus.

"Audiences embraced The Bible in numbers and with passion we never could have anticipated," Downey and Burnett said after the finale aired. "More than 100 million of them chose stories of God's deep and sacrificial love for all of us over anything else on cable or broadcast networks. It proves once again why the Bible is called the greatest story ever told."

Twentieth Century Fox (Provident Distribution) released The Bible on DVD and Blu-ray April 2.

"The demand is incredibly high," Simon Swart, executive vice president and general manager of the North American division of Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, told TIME magazine. He added that many retailers, who plan to stock the DVD, have already increased their orders.

Many chains in the Christian retail channel have gotten behind The Bible. Mardel Christian & Education is offering both the DVD and Blu-ray for $49.99 each. LifeWay Christian Stores, is offering the DVD and Blu-ray for $49.99 and $59.99, respectively, and Family Christian Stores is offering the DVD and Blu-ray for $44.99 and $52.49, respectively.

Click here to read a column about The Bible miniseries by Downey and Burnett in the February issue of Christian Retailing.

Click here for more information on The Bible miniseries.