Television
The film has been broadcast annually on the ABC network since 1973, traditionally during the Easter holiday, as well as Passover. Like the commercial network telecasts of Ben-Hur, the lengthy film is always shown in one evening instead of being split up into two, making it necessary for ABC to pre-empt its entire network schedule between 7:00 pm and midnight/ET-PT on the nights that it is shown, although local affiliates have the right to tape delay the showing an hour ahead to 8 pm ET/PT to keep their schedules in line for early evening. Currently, the movie is shown the Saturday before Easter as part of the ABC Saturday Night Movie lineup. In 2010, the movie was broadcast in HDTV for the first time, which allowed the television audience to see it in its original VistaVision aspect ratio.
- Ratings by year (between 2007 and 2011)
| Number |
Year |
Episode |
Rating |
Share |
Rating/Share (18–49) |
Viewers (millions) |
Rank (timeslot) |
Rank (night) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "2007" | April 7, 2007 | TBA | TBA | TBA | 7.87 | TBA | TBA |
| 2 | "2008" | March 22, 2008 | 4.7 | 9 | 2.3/7 | 7.91 | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | "2009" | April 11, 2009 | 4.2 | 8 | 1.7/6 | 6.81 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | "2010" | April 3, 2010 | TBA | TBA | 1.4/5 | 5.88 | 2 | 3 |
| 5 | "2011" | April 23, 2011 | TBA | TBA | 1.6/5 | 7.05 | 1 | 1 |
Read more about this topic: The Ten Commandments (1956 film)
Famous quotes containing the word television:
“The technological landscape of the present day has enfranchised its own electorates—the inhabitants of marketing zones in the consumer goods society, television audiences and news magazine readerships... vote with money at the cash counter rather than with the ballot paper at the polling booth.”
—J.G. (James Graham)
“In full view of his television audience, he preached a new religion—or a new form of Christianity—based on faith in financial miracles and in a Heaven here on earth with a water slide and luxury hotels. It was a religion of celebrity and showmanship and fun, which made a mockery of all puritanical standards and all canons of good taste. Its standard was excess, and its doctrines were tolerance and freedom from accountability.”
—New Yorker (April 23, 1990)
“Never before has a generation of parents faced such awesome competition with the mass media for their children’s attention. While parents tout the virtues of premarital virginity, drug-free living, nonviolent resolution of social conflict, or character over physical appearance, their values are daily challenged by television soaps, rock music lyrics, tabloid headlines, and movie scenes extolling the importance of physical appearance and conformity.”
—Marianne E. Neifert (20th century)