Whitney Houston's family outdrew Lance Armstrong on OWN

LOS ANGELES (REUTERS) - Oprah Winfrey's exclusive TV interview with disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong drew 3.2 million American viewers - less than the record number who watched the talk show queen interview the family of singer Whitney Houston a month after her death.

Ratings figures on Friday from Winfrey's struggling cable channel OWN showed the 90-minute interview with Armstrong, in which the cyclist admitted taking performance-enhancing drugs for years, was the second-most-watched telecast in OWN's short history.

Winfrey, 58, regarded as the most influential woman on United States (US) television, won high marks from media critics for her effort to get the truth out of Armstrong, and showed off a steely side audiences have rarely seen.

But the much-anticipated encounter on Thursday failed to top the 3.5 million people who watched Winfrey interview the teenage daughter of I Will Always Love You singer Houston in March last year.