Lifetime's THE GABBY DOUGLAS STORY Scores 3.8 Million Viewers

Lifetime, cable's number one destination for original movies across all key demographics, including Total Viewers, continued its impressive run of movie premieres with Saturday's launch of The Gabby Douglas Story (#GoGoldOrGoHome), scoring 3.8 million viewers, according to Nielsen Research. Immediately following the movie at 10:00 pm, the hour-long documentary Beyond the Headlines: The Gabby Douglas Story averaged 3.0 million Total Viewers. The Gabby Douglas Story was the most-tweeted program of the night across all of television (excluding sports), according to Nielsen SocialGuide.

Lifetime will encore The Gabby Douglas Story tonight at 8:00pm ET/PT.

The Gabby Douglas Story is the third straight movie premiere in as many weeks to drive Lifetime to the top of original cable movie delivery for the year. The January 18th world premiere of Flowers in the Attic was the night's number one telecast and ad-supported cable's most-watched original movie since November 2012. Lizzie Borden Took An Ax was the most-watched telecast across all of television for the night among Women 18-49 and Women 25-54, as well as the evening's most-watched telecast across cable with Total Viewers and Adults 25-54.

Starring SAG Award(R) nominated actress Regina King (Southland), Golden Globe(R) and Emmy(R) winner S. Epatha Merkerson (Law & Order), Imani Hakim (Everybody Hates Chris), Sydney Mikayla (Whitney) and Olympic gold medalist Gabby Douglas, the film tells the inspiring true story of the international gymnastics phenomenon who overcame overwhelming odds to become the first African American ever to be named Individual All-Around Champion in artistic gymnastics at the Olympic Games. A prodigy from a very young age, Gabby Douglas originally made her mark on the world of competitive gymnastics at age eight. She won numerous state championship titles in her age group throughout her early competitive career. While her star was fast rising in the arena, Gabby and her family faced economic challenges at home and she made the difficult decision to leave her mother Natalie (King), three siblings and grandmother (Merkerson) in Virginia Beach and move to Des Moines, Iowa, to train with renowned coach Liang Chow (Brian Tee, The Wolverine) to pursue her dream of Olympic glory. Buoyed by her early success, dedication and unyielding love from her family, Gabby made it onto the 2012 U.S. Women's Gymnastics team, setting the stage for triumph shortly thereafter at the London Olympic Games. Her sacrifice and perseverance were triumphantly rewarded with Team Competition and Individual All-Around gold medals, placing Gabby and her teammates -- known as "The Fierce Five" -- among the world's all-time greats in gymnastics.

The Gabby Douglas Story was produced by Sony Pictures Television in association with Braun Entertainment. Zev Braun and Philip Krupp (A Girl Like Me: The Gwen Araujo Story) served as executive producers, with David Rosemont (Bonnie & Clyde) producing. Gregg Champion (The Cowboy Way, Amish Grace) directed from a script written by Maria Nation (The Two Mr. Kissels).

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