ap photo Janet Jackson arrives at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in New York in 2019.

NEW YORK — Janet Jackson’s four-part documentary on Lifetime was the network’s most-watched non-fiction show since “Surviving R. Kelly” three years ago, and viewership is continuing to grow.

The documentary series debuted Friday and Saturday night on Lifetime and was simulcast on the A&E network. With the musician and her manager-brother Randy listed as executive producers, the series was an intriguing look at a reclusive singer yet also received criticism for issues skirted or left out entirely.

The first part on Friday was seen by 2.8 million people on live TV, and another 1.2 million in the next few days either digitally or on demand, the Nielsen company said. Part two had a similar viewership of 4.3 million, Part three had 3.7 million and the final part had 3.8 million.

Those numbers are expected to grow with delayed viewing over the next few weeks.

Fox News Channel seems to have minted a new star. Jesse Watters’ debut week at the 7 p.m. Eastern slot reached an average of 3.26 million people, well above the 1.87 million Fox reached last year in that time slot with a rotating set of hosts. Watters’ show reached more than Joy Reid on MSNBC and Erin Burnett on CNN combined, Nielsen said.

Given that Watters is also one of the hosts of “The Five” on Fox, he was featured on nine of the top 15 programs on cable news last week, including the top four, Nielsen said.