Oprah’s Lance Armstrong Interview Draws 3.2 Million Viewers
Oprah Winfrey’s exclusive interview with cyclist Lance Armstrong drew in around 3.2 million viewers when it aired on Thursday night (January 18).
Although a lot of people tuned in to see what Armstrong had to say about allegations that he doped during his career, the athlete’s interview wasn’t the hottest the network has seen in recent months. According to USA Today, Oprah’s chat with Whitney Houston’s family following her death set a record for Oprah’s cable channel.
The people who tuned into a rerun of the Lance Armstrong interview on Thursday helped pushed the total number of viewers to around 4.3 million. However, the debut couldn’t generate the ratings associated with Winfrey’s chat with Houston’s daughter. That interview drew in around 3.5 million viewers.
It’s currently unknown how many people tuned in for the second part of the Armstrong interview on Friday night.
Yahoo! News reports that some people caught the broadcast from its online stream. An OWN spokesperson said that roughly 600,000 logged onto the network’s website to see Winfrey’s discuss several controversial topics with the embattled cyclist.
OWN executives are certainly hoping that those who tuned in for the chat will ultimately become regular viewers. Since its inception, Oprah’s cable channel has struggled to find a proper foothold. However, the company is hoping to make some important changes to its line-up later this year.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Corus Entertainment had anticipated quite a few people to tune in to the Lance Armstrong interview. The company helped pair Oprah with Discovery Networks in Canada.
CEO John Cassaday said last week that he expected “the Lance Armstrong interview will bring additional focus and awareness to the Oprah Winfrey Network.”
Oprah and Lance Armstrong: The Worldwide Exclusive found the cyclist admitting that he had used certain performance-enhancing drugs during his career.
Did you tun into the Lance Armstrong interview on OWN?
