OWN Draws Largest-Ever Nightly Audience Tuesday With Tyler Perry Dramas

A strong finish by “The Haves and the Have Nots” and the return of “If Loving You is Wrong” — a pair of soapy dramas created by Tyler Perry —combined Tuesday to give OWN its most-watched night on record.

Nielsen estimates that the midseason finale of “Haves and Have Nots” averaged a 1.1 rating/4 share in adults 18-49 and 3.5 million viewers overall — up nearly 20% in both categories from the previous week. Among cable programs, it was No. 1 in its 9 o’clock hour in 18-49 and No. 1 among all cable programs for the night in total viewers.

It was followed by the second-season premiere of “If Loving You is Wrong” (0.9/3 in 18-49, 3.0 million viewers overall), which set series records across the board. It retained a strong 85% of its “Haves” lead-in among women 25-54 (1.56 rating vs. 1.84), and the programs ranked as cable’s top two for the night in OWN’s target demo.

For the night, which included a repeat “Haves” in the 8 o’clock hour, OWN averaged 2.77 million viewers, according to Nielsen, making it cable’s most-watched primetime network for firstrun programming. The network’s previous high for a night (2.44 million) came in March 2012 with a “Oprah’s Next Chapter” installment featuring Bobbi Kristina.

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