History's 'Hatfields & McCoys' Premiere Grabs Cable-Record 13.9 Million Viewers

Part one of Costner-Paxton miniseries becomes top non-sports telecast in cable history

By Andrea Morabito -- Broadcasting & Cable, 5/29/2012 3:43:03 PM

History's premiere of Hatfields & McCoys Monday night became the top-rated non-sports telecast in the history of ad-supported cable, drawing 13.9 million total viewers at 9 p.m.

The first episode of the three-part miniseries, which stars Kevin Costner and Bill Paxton as patriarchs of feuding families, attracted 5.8 million adults 25-54 and 4.8 million adults 18-49, according to Nielsen ratings. The premiere and encore telecast combined for 17 million total viewers.

Hatfields & McCoys continues Tuesday and Wednesday from 9-11 p.m. ET.

The miniseries is the first of History's push into scripted programming. The network also has the upcoming 10-episode docudrama The Bible from Mark Burnett and its first drama series Vikings.