When the Discovery Channel aired the controversial documentary on finding "The Lost Tomb of Jesus," they received the highest ratings since September of 2005. Nielsen ratings showed that the "Tomb' had an average of 4.1 million viewers during the airing.
The majority of this was initiated by James Cameron, "Titanic" director, because of his getting back into making some films after a long hiatus. He needed to get back in the public eye, so he created this documentary that evidently did the job.
When Discovery announced the special last month it immediatey drew worldwide attention from the media. The coverage, for the most part, was pretty skeptical of the findings, with high-level archaeologists disputing the findings the program presented, along with Christian believers.
The channel also presented a panel debate after the documentary that was moderated by Ted Koppel. It basically looked at the assertions of the show and allowed people to "challenge their assumptions and suggested conclusions."
When asked why they didn't release the high viewing figures in a release, David Leavy executive VP of corporate communications at Discovery said, "This is not one where you necessarily beat the drum, from a business perspective, it's not necessarily about making money, or making ratings, or shouting from the highest office building. Sometimes having some maturity and perspective is more important than getting picked up in all the ratings highlights."
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