By Chris Large, A&E/Sony
A scene from 'Hatfields and McCoys' on History Channel.
By Gary Levin, USA TODAY
There was no feud about its enduring popularity: Hatfields & McCoys, History's miniseries about the warring clans, drew 13.9 million viewers for Monday's opening installment, according to early Nielsen estimates provided by the network.
That makes it the No. 1 telecast on ad-supported cable, excluding sports, and continues a tradition of top-rated cable Westerns, including AMC's 2006 miniseries Broken Trail, which opened with a then-record 9.9 million. Hatfields, History's first scripted movie, stars Kevin Costner and Bill Paxton and continues tonight and Wednesday (9 ET/PT).
Just for comparison, last night's Bachelorette averaged 5.8 million viewers over its two hours on ABC, and America's Got Talent on NBC pulled in 10 million.
Copyright 2012 USATODAY.com