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Bruce Jenner is seen as he sits down with ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer for a two-hour interview that aired during a special edition of ABC News’ “20/20" on April 24, 2015, in this handout courtesy of ABC News. Olympic gold medalist and reality TV star Jenner said on Friday that he identifies as a woman, becoming the most high-profile American to come out as transgender. The 65-year-old Jenner made the declaration in a wide-ranging interview with ABC's Sawyer, nearly 40 years after his record-breaking Olympic gold-medal win in the decathlon that gave him the unofficial title of "World's Greatest Athlete." REUTERS/ABC News/Handout via Reuters TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS IMAGE. NO SALES. NO ARCHIVES. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS PICTURE IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO C Image Credit: REUTERS

Former Olympian Bruce Jenner reached an audience of just under 17 million people for his declaration in an ABC News interview that he identifies as a woman.

The Nielsen company said on Saturday 16.9 million viewers watched the interview on ABC’s 20/20 newscast on Friday night.

The audience was the biggest for a non-sports show on a Friday night since 2003, which would exclude Olympics broadcasts. Friday is generally a light night for television viewing because so many people have plans outside the house.

It was also the biggest audience for ABC’s 20/20 newscast on a Friday night in 15 years. Nielsen said viewership peaked just after 10pm with 17.2 million viewers.

Nielsen Social also estimated that there were 972,000 tweets sent on Friday night about the Jenner interview.