Oprah's Lance interview: Big ratings, but not the network's best

• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, January 18, 2013

OWN's "Oprah's Next Chapter" pulled a healthy Nielsen 3.2 million total viewers for the first part of her big interview with disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong -- but no overall record results.

OWN’s best viewed telecast so far in its short history came in interviewing Whitney Houston’s family on March 11 2012, which grabbed 3.5 million viewers.

OWN did say the show, which aired at 9 p.m. on Thursday, billed as "Oprah and Lance Armstrong: The Worldwide Exclusive”, pulled the best demographics for any weekday telecast. The telecast also ranked number one across all male viewers -- a Nielsen 1.88 rating for men 25-54; a 1.59 rating for men 18-49 viewers; and a 0.98 among men 18-34 viewers.

The re-run airing of the 90-minute Lance interview, at 10:30 p.m. ET, earned an additional 1.1 million viewers. The second part of the interview takes place on Friday night.