Exclusive: RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 17 is already taking a victory lap, after the premiere episode scored the series’ best ratings in years.

According to live + three-day Nielsen data, the episode scored a 0.908 rating among adults 18-34, up 17% from the year prior and, actually, marking the competition’s highest-rated season premiere in seven years.

Among adults 18-49, RuPaul’s Drag Race scored a 0.993 rating, which is the best season premiere performance in 12 years, up 9% from the year before.

Nielsen says that the Season 17 premiere managed a 10.77 share among adults 18-34 and a 7.55 share among adults 18-49, up 38% and 27% respectively year-over-year.

Season 17 debuted on January 3, so it may seem a little late to be touting this win, but Paramount Global is just beginning to use Nielsen data again after a four-month contract dispute, so historical comparisons were difficult prior to this week.

This marks the third consecutive year that RuPaul’s Drag Race has...