Palin's reality show breaks TLC history after drawing nearly 5m viewers

New York, Nov 16 (ANI): It seems Sarah Palin's new reality-television show has become a huge hit.

Approximately 4.96 million people watched this week's night premiere of TLC's "Sarah Palin's Alaska," which chronicles the former Alaska governor and her family exploring their home state, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Palin's audience was the most-watched program debut in TLC history, according to early Nielsen Co. data provided by the Discovery Communications cable network.

The episode nevertheless lagged far behind the most-watched shows on network television.

Around 20 million people watched the New England Patriots defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers, according to NBC Sports. About 11.8 million watched "Desperate Housewives" on ABC, the network said.

Produced by reality-show veteran Mark Burnett, "Sarah Palin's Alaska" depicts Palin in both domestic and wilderness settings. At home, she chastens her daughter Willow for attempting to bring a teenage boy upstairs. On a fishing expedition, Palin expresses awe at the sight of two bears fighting.

"It was amazing to watch, this mama grizzly-brown bear really-protecting her cubs and saying, you know, nobody's going to mess with my cubs," the New York Post quoted her as saying. (ANI)