Beyonce Documentary Draws In Historical Ratings For HBO

Nearly 2 million people tuned into 'Life Is but a Dream' Saturday night.

Life is but a ratings dream for Beyoncé. On Saturday night, a record-breaking number of viewers tuned in to see what the singer had to say in her interview with Oprah Winfrey on OWN and her HBO special.
About 1.3 million people watched Beyoncé's episode of "Oprah's Next Chapter," during which she opened up about her life with her "foundation" Jay-Z and detailed the early days of their courtship. Shortly after, her HBO special, "Life Is but a Dream," pulled in 1.8 million, making it the largest audience for an HBO doc since Nielsen amended its method of measuring ratings in 2004, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Beyoncé in her documentary "Life Is But A Dream" 

Spike Lee's 2006 documentary, "When the Levees Broke," is the only documentary to come close with 1.7 million viewers. Bey's doc has become the most-watched documentary in nearly 10 years on the network. It also beat out "Girls," which usually airs Sunday nights on the network, with nearly three times the number of viewers.
Beyoncé co-directed the effort, and even gave fans an intimate peek at her daughter, Blue Ivy. "This film is about a woman and all of the challenges that we all go through," she told MTV News about the film at its NYC premiere.
And fans seemed pleased to get to know their Queen Bey through her eyes. SoundOff commented on MTV News' website, "I thought she seemed very genuine which made her all the more beautiful in and out in my opinion, the girl's got heart. The scenes with Blue Ivy were beautiful."

LeeJaDeChaisson left a lengthy missive about his feelings on the special, noting, "The documentary was profound, enlightening, and it was engulfed in the beautiful essence, which is Beyonce. I do not term her as a 'God-like' figure or [out]-of-this world creature, but she is one of the most talented, beautiful, empowering, energetic-as-hell, creative, hard working, 'real,' artists that I have seen in my life. I respect her, and, after seeing her documentary, I have come to respect her as a person more than ever."

Did you catch Beyoncé's HBO documentary? Let us know what you thought in the comments below!