Wednesday’s exclusive first interview with Vice President Dick Cheney after he shot and wounded a fellow quail hunter last weekend boosted “Special Report With Brit Hume” to a 2006 high of 2.1 million viewers.

“Special Report” at 8 p.m. (ET) was the most-watched program on Fox News Channel Wednesday, with a total viewership 36 percent higher than its February average of 1.56 million viewers.

In addition, the program’s repeat at midnight averaged 742,000 viewers.

In the key news demo of 25- to 54-year-old viewers, “Special Report” at 8 drew 513,000 viewers, a 43 percent improvement over the show’s February average.