3.2 million viewers tuned in to OWN for the first airing of Oprah's bombshell interview with Lance Armstrong on Thursday.
It was the second highest-rated telecast for the young network, according to a statement from OWN on Friday. The interview's second airing at 9 p.m. PT drew an additional 1.1 million viewers, for a total of 4.3 million viewers watching the interview that night. The 9 p.m. airing came second to the March 2012 telecast of "Oprah's Next Chapter" with Whitney Houston’s family, which drew 3.5 million viewers.
Thursday's interview was also the highest-rated weekday telecast for OWN in the key 25-54 demographic.
All eyes were on Oprah and Armstrong this past week, as news that he confessed to using performance-enhancing drugs leaked.Oprah said that the interview was "the biggest" of her career, and was widely praised for her questioning.
Thursday's interview — which brought in premiums for advertising time and put OWN in the limelight — is the latest sign that the network is finally gaining traction. Oprah declared that OWN had finally "made the pivot" in September, after it initially struggling to gain traction and several big shake-ups in programming.
The only reason the network is finally seeing any kind of boost is because Big O is back on the screen.
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