Tyler Perry‘s drama series “The Haves and the Have Nots” premiered its second season on OWN on Tuesday night, reaching a series high of 2.8 million total viewers and becoming the network’s top season premiere across all key demos.
The total viewership represents a 57 percent leap over last May’s Season 1 premiere. In the women 25-54 demographic, Tuesday’s premiere also set a series high, scoring 1.1 million viewers in the demo, a 59 percent jump over the Season 1 premiere.
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Compared to the Season 1 finale in September, the “Haves and the Have Nots” premiere was up 13 percent in the demo and 7 percent in total viewers.
In the larger scope of OWN history, the “Haves and the Have Nots” Season 2 premiere also had an impressive showing — the premiere was the second-highest-rated show in the demo in the history of OWN, only lagging behind the March 2012 installment of “Oprah’s Next Chapter” featuring Bobbi Kristina Houston. In total viewers, it was OWN’s third-most-watched show, behind the Houston interview and the “Oprah’s Next Chapter” featuring disgraced bicyclist Lance Armstrong.