‘Iyanla: Fix My Life’ Makes OWN History

As the saying goes, numbers don’t life and according to ratings, things are looking bright for Oprah Winfrey’s OWN Network. Specifically, over the weekend, the network’s original programming brought in some serious viewership numbers.

Here’s a summary of OWN’s impressive weekend numbers, according to an OWN press release:

• the premiere of the new original series “Iyanla: Fix My Life” with life coach Iyanla Vanzant landed 1,136,000 million viewers ranking #2 in its time period in W25-54 among all ad-supported cable networks. The premiere, which featured “Basketball Wives” star Evelyn Lozada, continued ratings momentum with part two (on Sunday, Sept.) with 1,590,000 million total viewers, ranking #3 in its time period among ad-supported cable in W25-54 and W18-49. The Sunday episode also ranked #1 in the time slot across all broadcast and cable with African-American W25-54 (9.66) and W18-49 (9.12). In short, the two night premiere is the network’s #1 series debut ever, ranking  #2 (W25-54) in all of cable in time period on Saturday.
• The return of popular original series “Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s” (Saturday, Sept. 15 at 9 p.m.) also hit an all-time series high with 932,000 total viewers. The series ranked #4 in its time period among ad-supported cable W25-54 and #1 across all broadcast and cable in all key African-American demos (4.76 W25-54, 3.55 W18-49, and 766,000 total viewers).
• “Oprah’s Next Chapter” (Sunday, Sept. 16 at 9 p.m.) featuring Opra’s interview with R&B artist Usher garnered 1,520,000 million viewers ranking #3 in its time period in W25-54 and W18-49 among all ad-supported cable. The series ranked #1 in the time period across all broadcast and cable in key African-American demos (8.94 W25-54, 8.05 W18-49).
• OWN’s Sunday morning series “Super Soul Sunday” is at its highest to date, up +158% over its season average.

So my question to you is, what do you think are the contributing factors to OWN’s successful ratings thus far? Has the programming gotten better (i.e. ‘Iyanla: Fix My Life’) or are the A-list celebs (Rihanna, Gabby Douglas, the Kardashian’s, Evelyn Lozada) featured on ‘Next Chapter’ the biggest factor? Did Iyanla’s show make history because of the popularity of Evelyn Lozada? And are you surprised at all, with OWN’s success?