History entered the original scripted arena in a big way last night. The premiere of the cable network’s miniseries Hatfields & McCoys drew a staggering 13.9 million total viewers, 4.8 million adults 18-48 and 5.8 million adults 25-54 from 9-11 PM to become the the No. 1 non-sports telecast in ad-supported cable television history. The combined viewership for Part 1’s two airings was 17 million. “With all the success we have had at History, we felt strongly for some time that we should own historical drama, and in true History fashion, we have done it, with — pardon the pun — guns ablazin!,” said History’s president and general manger Nancy Dubuc. Hatfields & McCoys, a three-part, six-hour miniseries starring Kevin Costner and Bill Paxton, tells the true American story of a legendary family feud that spanned decades and nearly launched a war between Kentucky and West Virginia. Part 2 and Part 3 premiere tonight and tomorrow night, respectively. The mini is produced by Thinkfactory Media, with Leslie Greif executive producing, and Costner, Darrell Fetty and Herb Nanas producing. Sony TV is distributing. Hatfields & McCoys had been a passion project for Greif for more than 20 years.

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