Dodging Spoilers in 'Downton Abbey'

By JOHN JURGENSEN

Masterpiece/PBS

A scene from 'Downton Abbey' season three.

Many devotees of a British drama set in 1920 are peeved to find themselves behind the times.

The hit series "Downton Abbey" makes its season premiere on PBS this Sunday, but it was September when those same episodes started airing in the U.K. That left big swaths of the "Downton" audience—a loyal and vocal lot—with four months to stew in envy of their British brethren. More frustrating for them: the challenge of dodging news from across the pond about major plot developments. Even an innocent Google search for "Downton" can easily ruin the suspense, fans complain. (Don't worry, no spoilers contained herein.)

The side effects of 'Downton Abbey's' staggered U.S. premiere date have grown along with the show's popularity, the intertwining of social media and TV, and the rising dramatic stakes within the show as it ages. WSJ's Jon Jurgensen discusses whether PBS will be persuaded to change its ways. Photo: Carnival Film & Television Limited.

Now in its third season, the show has always had its British and U.S. premiere dates staggered, the result of the way PBS repackages and promotes "Downton Abbey." But the possible side effects of that lag have grown along with the show's popularity, the intertwining of social media and TV, and the rising dramatic stakes within the show as it ages.

Created and written by Julian Fellowes, "Downton Abbey" is the story of an old English estate buffeted by changes: World War I, the gradual empowerment of women, class tension. In the U.S., the often-soapy saga of aristocrats and the servants who attend them averaged five million viewers per episode in its first season, the broadcaster says. That number grew to seven million for season two. (By comparison, CBS's "The Good Wife" drew an average 7.1 million viewers this season, according to Nielsen.)

The "Downton" ratings "would be higher still if the broadcast wasn't so delayed," says Gareth Neame, managing director of series co-producer Carnival Films. Some impatient U.S. viewers bypass PBS by seeking out websites furnishing pirated episodes. NBCUniversal, which owns Carnival, says shows from season three were illegally downloaded about 1.5 million times through mid-November. "That's 1.5 million people diluting the value of the show," the producer adds.

Sierra Dadovich of Minneapolis says she has watched every installment of "Downton" before it hit PBS. "The episodes are right there, easily found online," she says. "Am I really supposed to wait around a few months to see them?" If a site hosting the streams she watches gets shut down, an alternative is a Web search away, the 24-year-old says.

Of course, rogue viewing isn't unique to "Downton." The HBO fantasy series "Game of Thrones" was the most downloaded TV show last year, according to tracking site TorrentFreak, which said demand was driven by delayed air dates outside the U.S. and some fan refusal to pay for cable bundles necessary to get HBO. But "Downton" is the rare TV import to acquire a clamoring U.S. audience.

Rebecca Eaton, executive producer of the long-running PBS series "Masterpiece," which coproduces "Downton," says there has been talk of narrowing the premiere gap in the future. (The show is about to start production on season four.) "It's a very hot and visible topic," Ms. Eaton says. Yet she's not convinced that piracy has weakened PBS's audience: "It's extremely difficult to determine what the effect of downloading is on viewership," she says. For example, after Ms. Dadovich gets her immediate "Downton" fix online, she rewatches episodes when they eventually air on PBS, to jog her memory and enjoy the proper picture quality.

Of course, PBS wants all the viewers it can get, but the public broadcaster doesn't rely on advertising revenue driven by ratings. Ms. Eaton adds that January has proved an ideal window for "Masterpiece" premieres, and that it could be dangerous to send "Downton" into the crowded fall rollout of network TV.

Most people are used to tiptoeing through Twitter and office conversations to avoid details about explosive TV they have yet to see. But spoilers are almost inescapable when passing months wear down the caution and etiquette that should keep them in check. Recently, when the Daily Telegraph of London trumpeted an interview with an actor departing "Downton," it described his character's exit in the headline, riling international fans who read it (or the many blogs relaying the news).

Ironically, spoiler worry eats into the "Downton" experience for U.S. fans who have jumped the queue. After watching an illicit episode stream, Ms. Dadovich says she feels an urgent need to discuss the latest plot twists with her friends, but she knows they'll shout her down if she so much as tweets "WOW! #DowntonAbbey."

"Despite all of that," she says, "I cannot imagine not knowing the two huge things that happened in season three right now."

Write to John Jurgensen at john.jurgensen@wsj.com

A version of this article appeared January 4, 2013, on page D8 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Dodging Spoilers in 'Downton Abbey'.