The docudrama '' Flight 93 '' , about the hijacking of the plane which crashed in Pennsylvania during the September 11 , 2001 attacks was the most watched program on the network ; it attracted 5.9 million viewers for its initial telecast on January 30 , 2006 . This was later surpassed by '' Duck Dynasty '' 's third season premiere . The previous record-holder for the network was a World War II docudrama , '' Ike : Countdown to D-Day '' , starring Tom Selleck and broadcast in 2004 , with 5.5 million viewers . A&E later acquired rights to rerun the HBO series '' The Sopranos '' ; its A&E premiere on January 10 , 2007 , averaged 3.86 million viewers , making it the most-watched premiere of a rerun off-network series in cable television history at the time . The series has continued to perform well for A&E , and the network now regularly ranks in the top ten basic U.S. cable channels in prime time ratings
September 11 , 2001 attacks
September 11 attacks
A&E (TV channel)