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Oprah's Lance Armstrong Interview Ratings: 3.2 Million Tune In To OWN

The Ratings Are In
A combo picture made on January 15, 2013 in Paris, shows US talk-show star Oprah Winfrey and US former Cycling champion Lance Armstrong. Lance Armstrong's reported admission to Oprah Winfrey that he used performance-enhancing drugs likely means he will go down in history as the most brazen drug cheat the sport has ever seen. The disgraced American cyclist's comments, reported January 14, 2013 by USA Today, rewrite 14 years of deception and repeated denials that he used banned substances to win scores of international races, including the Tour de France seven times. His years of dominance in the sport's greatest race raised cycling's profile in the United States to new heights and gave Armstrong a platform to promote cancer awareness and research. AFP PHOTO / GABRIEL BOUYS / PAUL J. RICHARDS (Photo credit should read GABRIEL BOUYS,PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images)
A combo picture made on January 15, 2013 in Paris, shows US talk-show star Oprah Winfrey and US former Cycling champion Lance Armstrong. Lance Armstrong's reported admission to Oprah Winfrey that he used performance-enhancing drugs likely means he will go down in history as the most brazen drug cheat the sport has ever seen. The disgraced American cyclist's comments, reported January 14, 2013 by USA Today, rewrite 14 years of deception and repeated denials that he used banned substances to win scores of international races, including the Tour de France seven times. His years of dominance in the sport's greatest race raised cycling's profile in the United States to new heights and gave Armstrong a platform to promote cancer awareness and research. AFP PHOTO / GABRIEL BOUYS / PAUL J. RICHARDS (Photo credit should read GABRIEL BOUYS,PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images)

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.

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