'SEAL Team Six' Pulls in 2.7 Million Viewers With NatGeo Premiere

1:59 PM PST 11/5/2012 by Michael O'Connell, Philiana Ng

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The Weinstein Co.'s "Raid on Osama bin Laden," the first feature film the cable network has screened as an original broadcast, got a ratings push airing just two days shy of the election.

After opening theatrically abroad, SEAL Team Six: The Raid on Osama bin Laden saw its stateside premiere Sunday night on the National Geographic Channel, giving the cable network its highest ratings of the year in the process.

SEAL Team Six: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden: Film Review

'Seal Team 6: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden' Trailer

The initial 8 p.m. broadcast of the feature film, which was inspired by the events that led to the Al-Qaeda leader's 2011's assassination, averaged 2.7 million viewers for NatGeo's two-hour telecast. SEAL Team Six drew a 1.4 rating among adults 25-54, nearly five times the network's 0.3 average, and a 1.9 among men 25-54.

FILM REVIEW: SEAL Team Six: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden

The special ranks as NatGeo's top show of 2012 and is the network's sixth highest-rated broadcast ever. SEAL Team Six ranks as the highest-rated telecast in adults 25-54 since August 2011's George W. Bush: The 9/11 Interview, which drew a 1.7.

SEAL Team Six's broadcast came just two days before the presidential election. And starting Tuesday, the Weinstein Co.-distributed movie will be available on Netflix for U.S. subscribers.

At the time of NatGeo's SEAL Team Six announcement, Harvey Weinstein addressed the timeliness of the release. "I think many of us, myself included, have our own ideas of how everything unfolded that night," he said. "This portrayal of the events that took place that night is moving to say the very least. I anticipate audiences will be as captivated as I was from the beginning to the end, and I'm extremely proud as an American citizen to play a role in making sure this stunning portrayal of very recent American history is available in as many homes as possible."

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NatGeo's decision to air the film, its first feature premiere, comes after the recently announced plans to premiere Killing Lincoln. The Scott Free production of Bill O’Reilly’s best-selling book about Abraham Lincoln's assassination will arrive on the network in early 2013, with Tom Hanks on board as narrator and host of the scripted feature.

Directed by John Stockwell, SEAL Team Six stars Cam Gigandet, Anson Mount, Freddy Rodriquez, Xzibit, Kathleen Robertson, Eddie Kay Thomas and Kenneth Miller. The film will encore at 8 p.m. Friday.