​PBS’ ambitious plans to pivot away from British imports and launch an American-made Sunday drama will still get an assist from across the pond in January.

Paula Kerger, PBS president and CEO, told the TCA summer press tour in Beverly Hills on Saturday that Mercy Street, its first American-made drama in more than a decade, will premiere Jan. 17 at 10 p.m., following that evening’s episode of Downton Abbey. The British drama’s sixth and final season bows Jan. 3 on PBS.

Previous attempts at producing U.S.-made dramas have met with mixed success, but Kerger expressed cautious optimism that Downton has changed the landscape for public broadcasting.

“It’s brought a lot of people back to public television,” Kerger told the critics assembled at the Beverly Hilton.

Kerger used her appearance Saturday to tout PBS’s recent success in primetime and streaming.

She said that the average household had watched more PBS in primetime last season than any previous season. PBS also saw a 200 percent increase in OTT streaming, and a 32 percent rise in Web and mobile viewing.

While Kerger was excited about Mercy Street, she made it clear to the room that PBS does not have a grand new initiative to produce American-made drama, and that its overseas partners would still play an important role in helping fill its schedule.

PBS’ entire content budget, she pointed out, was the same as the promotion budget for large HBO series.

In one more bit of Downton news, she said that cast would be getting a float at the annual Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena that precedes the Rose Bowl.

But don’t ask for details.

“It will be a float. It will have a lot of flowers on it. And it will literally be two days before the premiere,” Kerger said when critics asked about the float. “It will be a lot of fun. And no, I will not be on it.”

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