Cancel your weekend plans, Downton Abbey lovers: The sixth and final season of the hit British drama is now available for streaming exclusively on Amazon Video. Prime users can watch the complete series at no added cost as part of their membership.
Season 6 premiered in early January in the U.S., and concluded on March 6. The series finale drew in an audience of 9.6 million people, according to Nielsen estimates, giving it a predictably strong finish — after all, Downton consistently enjoyed a large and loyal fan base throughout its run, both in the U.K. and stateside. The series became (and remains) PBS’ highest-rated program of all time.
Like the seasons before it, the sixth focuses on the Crawleys, an aristocratic family and their servants, living in England between 1912 and 1925. With social upheaval taking place around them, the characters are affected by the many societal changes in different and fascinating ways. In addition to issues of class, there are scandals, intriguing relationships and family dynamics, and more.
Amazon has added seasons 1 through 5 over the the past few years, and the retail giant/streamer has seen each pay off. The series has become one of Amazon’s most-streamed shows on Prime Video, and the company reports that streaming hours have almost doubled year-over-year. It helps, of course, that Amazon is the only streaming service to offer Downton to U.S. viewers.
With the success of hit show on Prime Video, Amazon decided to pick up Doctor Thorne, a new period drama from Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes. Both shows deal with issues of money, family, obligation, love, and scandal, among others, so the hope is clearly to appeal to a similar audience. Doctor Thorne will likely prove to be a tempting next stop for Downton fans, especially after a complete series binge. Everyone has to cope with goodbye somehow.
Some of the best shots in Grok Imagine’s AI-made Odyssey don’t contain actors. Ancient landscapes stretch into the distance. Close-ups of grimy hands suggest people who have touched something rougher than a keyboard. For a few seconds, the illusion holds.
https://twitter.com/imagine/status/2113712964419063911
YouTube videos could soon look better without eating quite so much data, right? Thankfully, the platform plans to introduce a new video format called AV2 on its web player in early 2027, promising more efficient streaming and potentially fewer playback hiccups on slower internet connections. The big headline is a roughly 30% improvement in compression efficiency over AV1, YouTube's existing video format. That doesn't guarantee every video will use 30% less data, but it could make streaming a little easier on both internet connections and data allowances.
What is AV2, and why should viewers care?
YouTube is changing how its Home page works, giving viewers more control over what shows up there and making some of the app’s most-used sections easier to reach. Custom Feeds are now replacing the existing topic chips for eligible users, while YouTube is also testing a redesigned top bar on mobile that moves Subscriptions closer to the Home feed.
YouTube first started experimenting with Custom Feeds earlier this year, letting you type out what you wanted to watch and turning that request into its own stream of recommendations. Now, the feature is starting to look less like a side experiment and more like something YouTube actually wants people to use as part of their everyday Home page.