The ducks have taken flight.

Wednesday night’s third-season premiere of A&E’s reality series “Duck Dynasty” was the most-watched nonfiction show on cable television so far this year, crushing much of the competition on the broadcast networks, especially among the younger viewers of most value to advertisers.

“Duck Dynasty” attracted a vast audience for cable, 8.6 million viewers, the most for any nonfiction show on cable in 2013. But the 10 p.m. half-hour of “Dynasty” also pulled in five million viewers in the 18- to 49-year-old age group, the one that most networks sell to their advertisers.

That topped every half-hour on broadcast television Wednesday night, except for the last half-hour of “American Idol” on Fox. Over all for its two hours, “Idol” finished behind, however, with 4.87 million.



The ducks even edged ahead of “Modern Family” on ABC, which had 4.98 million in that age group for its half-hour. In terms of total viewers, “Duck Dynasty” beat everything on ABC except “Modern Family” and it eclipsed all three shows on NBC.

Nothing on NBC came within two million viewers of “Duck Dynasty.” In fact, if the ducks were to have been shown on NBC, it would easily be the top show of the last two months on that network, and better than any entertainment show except “The Voice.”

The surge in ratings over last season’s premiere indicated just how hot a show A&E has on its hands. The “Duck Dynasty” premiere was up 132 percent from last year in total viewers, to 8.6 million from 3.7 million, and 127 percent in the 18-49 category, to 5 million from 2.2 million.