Palin’s Debut on FOX Nation Draws 4 Million Viewers (Updated)

Sarah’s debut as a FOX News contributor on the O’Reilly Factor on Tuesday drove up the ratings for that show just as it did for Oprah Winfrey’s show in November.

From FOX Nation on Thursday:

The Nielsen ratings are in and former V.P. hopeful Sarah Palin hit the nearly 4 million viewer jackpot last night for her debut appearance on Fox News’s “The O’Reilly Factor” as a Fox News contributor. The count: 3,954,000 people tuned in to watch Palin last night.
 
That number is up 42 percent from the same night last year, and up 26 percent compared to every other day of the show in January.
 
Palin’s appearance beat out CNN’s Campbell Brown, who had 999,000 viewers last night. The show also beat every ABC program between 8:30 p.m. and 10 p.m., which included shows like “Scrubs” and “Better Off Ted.”

Last night, Bill O’Reilly remarked that his show in which Sarah Palin debuted on FOX had more viewers than all the other networks combined.  The New York Post confirmed that this morning.

From the New York Post this morning:

Sarah Palin was a smart hire for Fox News Channel, judging by the ratings for her debut on “The O’Reilly Factor” on Tuesday. The former Alaska governor’s first appearance as an analyst drew 3.954 million viewers — more than everything else on other cable new shows combined in the 8 p.m. hour. CNN’s “Campbell Brown” placed second with 999,000 total viewers, MSNBC’s “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” placed third with 906,000 total viewers and HLN’s “Nancy Grace” brought up the rear with 704,000. Compared to host Bill O’Reilly’s ratings the night before, the Palin push was worth a 22 percent rise in ratings, or more than 1 million more viewers including the repeat of O’Reilly’s show at 11 p.m. The former vice presidential candidate, who appeared yesterday for a full hour on Fox News with Glenn Beck, will be on “Oprah” today with James Cameron and Lady Gaga.