BIA2 Tops 3 Million Viewers in Debut

CNN’s Black In America 2, the two-night long form programming event hosted by Soledad O’Brien was the highest rated cable news documentary so far this year on any network. It had more than 3.5 million total viewers for the two installments last week.

O'Brien Documentary Hits #1 Again

Soledad O'Brien's documentary "CNN Presents: Escape From Jonestown," was the top-rated show in the adults 25-54 demographic when it premiered on November 13, with 2,352,000 total viewers. The program has had more than 11.5 million viewers in repeat playings.

This marks the fourth consecutive time that documentaries that O'Brien has reported have premiered at #1 in that age group during 2008. The three earlier documentaries were "Eyewitness to Murder: The King Assassination," "The Black Woman & Family," and "The Black Man."

Black in America Programs Have Strong Viewer Appeal

CNN anchor and special correspondent Soledad O’Brien spent more than a year tracking the stories of black men and women from all walks of life in this country for the Black in America series. Her hard work has paid off with many positive reviews and strong ratings.

The "Black Woman & Family" program attracted more than 2.1 million viewers in its two-hour premiere, including almost 1 million viewers between 25 and 54 years of age, CNN officials said Thursday.

In addition to the 966,000 viewers between 25-54, Black in America lured another 354,000 viewers between 18-34, up 188% from the 123,000 viewers 18-34 it drew in the same timeslot last year.

CNN.com’s online interactive special section for Black in America has already gotten over 2.4 million page views since July, 22.

In conjunction to the special series, iReport.com’s Black in America assignment has brought in over 700 iReports since the telecast.