Americans hoping to one day see Downton Abbey air in the United States and United Kingdom simultaneously will have to keep dreaming.

During their Television Critics Association panel in Pasadena, California yesterday, PBS said they plan to continue airing future Downton Abbey seasons in January.

The reason? Not only has viewership grown over the past couple of seasons, PBS says that the American audience has now grown accustomed to watching Downton Abbey in January.

“It would be very hard for me to imagine putting it anywhere else than where it has seemed to have found a very strong audience,” said PBS president Paula Kerger to the media on Monday.

Three episodes of Downton Abbey have aired so far in the United States. The same season of the show finished airing in the U.K. in November (Christmas Special aside).

While it’s very true that PBS has seen incredible ratings for the fourth season of Downton Abbey despite a large gap in U.S./U.K. air dates, the fact remains that many younger viewers stateside have chosen to watch the show online in the fall in order to avoid spoilers through social media. We have to think that viewership would only rise if it aired simultaneously in both countries, like Doctor Who does thanks to BBC and BBC America.

Downton Abbey has been commissioned for a fifth season, which is expected to premiere in the fall on ITV. Then, PBS will very likely air season 5 beginning in early 2015.

Thanks to The Guardian for the quote from Kerger.