"Storage Wars," a reality show about the good men and women who speculate on loot acquired when California storage lockers go into rental default, scored the highest ratings for an episode of a series in A&E history on Wednesday.

And, yes, that includes "Hoarders."

The network aired the first two episodes of the program's second season back to back, and the second half hour pulled down 5.1 million total viewers, including 2.9 million in the 18-49 demo. The 10 p.m. season premiere of "Storage Wars" drew in 4.5 million total viewers.

The show pits teams of "auction hunters" against each other to see who can turn the biggest profit from the defaulted loot they purchase at various facilities around California.

In that state, lockers go into default when storage renters fail to pay for three consecutive months, and the items in the locker are sold at auction as a single lot.