What is the highest-viewing DCOM premiere on Disney Channel, with 17.2 million viewers?

The DCOM premiere with 17.2 million viewers was High School Musical 2.

Disney Channel premiered the sequel on August 17, 2007, and its enormous audience made it a landmark television event. The broadcast set records for a basic-cable telecast and a made-for-cable movie, surpassing the first High School Musical’s premiere audience by more than 10 million viewers.

The film follows Troy Bolton, Gabriella Montez and the East High Wildcats during summer jobs at a country club. Sharpay Evans tries to recruit Troy for a talent-show performance, creating tension between ambition, friendship and romance. The sequel’s success also helped propel its soundtrack to number one in the United States.

Some references report the premiere as roughly 17 million viewers, while the detailed ratings figure is 17.2 million. Those figures describe the same record-setting event. The film’s second and third showings brought the premiere weekend’s total audience to more than 33 million viewers.