Lance Armstrong interview draws 3.2 million viewers

In this Monday, Jan. 14, 2013, file photo provided by Harpo Studios Inc., talk show host Oprah Winfrey, right, interviews Lance Armstrong during taping for the show “Oprah and Lance Armstrong: The Worldwide Exclusive” in Austin, Texas. Armstrong confessed to using performance-enhancing drugs to win the Tour de France cycling during the interview that aired Thursday, Jan. 17, reversing more than a decade of denial. AP Photo/Courtesy of Harpo Studios, Inc., George Burns, File

NEW YORK — Oprah Winfrey’s much-anticipated interview with Lance Armstrong was seen by a total of 4.3 million viewers in back-to-back airings Thursday night on OWN.

But the interview with the disgraced cycling champion drew only 3.2 million viewers for its first airing, an audience that fell short of OWN’s most-watched program: an interview Winfrey conducted with the family of Whitney Houston last March following the singer’s death the previous month.

During the highly publicized program, Armstrong confessed to taking banned substances for all seven of his Tour de France victories, among other admissions.

The second half of the Armstrong interview is scheduled to air Friday night.