ABC’s Jaycee Dugard Exclusive Attracts Audience Of Nearly 15 Million Viewers

ABC’s heavily-promoted exclusive interview with kidnap victim Jaycee Dugard was a hit with viewers, attracting an average audience of 14.8 million for the two-hour special Sunday night, according to an early report from Nielsen. The Diane Sawyer interview was Sunday night’s most-popular program, outperforming CBS, NBC and Fox combined in the 9-11 p.m. timeslot. The interview, the first time most Americans had ever heard Dugard speak, was clearly a tune-in event, with the special more than doubling ABC’s lead-in (164%).

Beyond the televised interview, which was the highest-rated summer newsmagazine episode in seven years, ABC reports huge interest in the Dugard story across other media platforms, with half a million people watching the interview online, and Diane Sawyer’s brand-new Twitter account @DianeSawyer reaching 10,000 followers by the program’s end.

You can watch the interview here, from ABC:

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