Saturday night’s premiere of Whitney, a Lifetime Original Movie, lured 4.5 million total viewers.
That rating made it the cable channel’s most-watched telecast across all demographics since Flowers in the Attic last January. However, it wasn’t enough to beat Flowers‘ rating of 6.1 million.
Whitney, which stars Yaya DaCosta as pop superstar Whitney Houston and Arlen Escarpeta as Bobby Brown, was also the most tweeted about program for the day, according to a statement from Lifetime.
The movie, directed by Angela Bassett, was the subject of criticism by relatives of the singer, who died in February 2012.
The family issued a statement ahead of Saturday’s broadcast, warning fans to “brace themselves for the worst.”
“If you watch this movie, watch it knowing that Lifetime is notorious for making bad biopics of deceased celebrities and brace yourself for the worst,” Pat Houston wrote.
While the movie itself received 4.5 million viewers, Lifetime says the entire evening programming block, which included two specials afterward (Bobby Brown: Remembering Whitney, Whitney Houston LIve: Her Greatest Performances), scored 11.8 million total viewers.
