Piers Morgan's new CNN show debuted to a so-so 2.1 million viewers Monday evening.
That was good enough to increase the news channel's prime-time performance by over 200 percent from its fourth-quarter average, but not good enough to overcome Fox News rival Sean Hannity, who averaged nearly 2.4 million viewers while interviewing Sarah Palin Monday.
Hannity consistently crushed Larry King, Morgan's predecessor, in the ratings.
Morgan's audience also unsurprisingly lagged behind the one for King's final show last month, which averaged 2.2 million viewers.
Morgan did beat MSNBC's "Rachel Maddow Show," which averaged 1.11 million viewers.
Morgan's first guest Monday night was Oprah Winfrey.
