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Oprah Winfrey's OWN draws 18.5 million in first week
January-12-2011

Oprah Winfrey's OWN Network, which launched New Year's Day at 12 p.m. ET/PT, cumulatively drew 18.5 million viewers for its premiere week ending January 7, according to final ratings.

From January 1-9, OWN was No. 25 in primetime (8-11 p.m.) among cable networks and averaged 505,000 viewers with a 0.55 household rating. That was up 49% from the Discovery Health channel, which the network replaced.

Among women 25-54, OWN had a 0.41 rating, up 58% from Discovery Health.

For total day, OWN ranked No. 28 for the week, with an average of 239,000 viewers.

In terms of specific numbers, Saturday, January 1's "Season 25: Oprah Behind the Scenes" garnered 1.2 million. Wednesday January 5's "Mystery Diagnosis" and "Miracle Detectives" earned 427,000 and 315,000 viewers, respectively.

Friday January 7's "Your OWN Show: Oprah's Search for the Next TV Star" took in 658,000 viewers.

On Sunday, Jan 9, "Ask Oprah's All-Stars" had 538,000 viewers while "Oprah Presents Master Class" (with Jay-Z) took in 266,000 viewers (down significantly from Diane Sawyer's episode on January 2 at 602,000 viewers).

OWN is available in 67% of U.S. homes and 80% cable homes.