‘Jay Leno’s Garage’ premiere was most watched in CNBC history

Looks like viewers were eager to peek inside “Jay Leno’s Garage.”

The new CNBC series about cars and motorcycles, hosted by the former “Tonight Show” comic, drew 916,000 total viewers during its Wednesday premiere, according to Nielsen.

That makes it CNBC’s most watched original series telecast of all time.

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All told, more than 1.1 million total viewers tuned in to the program on premiere night.

“Garage” marks a return to series TV for Leno, who left “Tonight” in early 2014 after hosting the program for more than 20 years (not counting a brief period when it was hosted by Conan O’Brien).

Not surprisingly, “Garage” performed particularly well among men 35 and older.

However, the CNBC show still has a ways to go before it outperforms “Top Gear,” the History version of the BBC series. History’s “Top Gear” premieres have drawn around 2 million viewers.

What did you think of “Jay Leno’s Garage”?

Twitter: @scottcollinsLAT

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