9:57 AM PST 1/23/2013 by Michael O'Connell
Prosecuting Casey Anthony, the Lifetime movie starring Rob Lowe as the Florida lawyer who tried to convict Anthony of murder in 2011, brought the network its strongest numbers since November's Liz & Dick.
The movie pulled 3.3 million viewers on Friday night, falling shy of Liz & Dick's 3.5 million haul. It's also a drop from Lifetime's previous true crime offering starring Lowe. Last January's Drew Peterson: Untouchable brought in 5.8 million viewers.
In the key demos, Prosecuting Casey Anthony brought in 1.5 million adults 25-54, 1.3 million adults 18-49, 1.1 million women 25-54 and 921 women 18-49.
Lifetime followed the film with a one-hour documentary special Beyond the Headlines: Prosecuting Casey Anthony. That averaged 2.4 million viewers.
Prosecuting Casey Anthony tops the Jan. 1 premiere of Dance Moms (2.8 million) for the network's top broadcast of 2013 thus far.
