NEW YORK (March 5, 2013)—The first installment of the History Channel’s miniseries "The Bible" was viewed by 13.1 million people on Sunday.

The series, produced by the husband-and-wife team of Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, will air in four more installments concluding March 31, which is Easter Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Nielsen company said both episodes of "American Idol" last week had their smallest audiences since joining Fox's regular schedule more than a decade ago.

Sunday's successful cable shows, including "The Walking Dead" along with "The Bible," hit broadcast TV hard.