How’s this for counter-programming? Perhaps the biggest ratings surprise of the past two weeks was Headline News’ Nancy Grace.

Back from vacation on Monday, she performed well the first night, but on Tuesday she registered her best ratings ever in both Total Viewers and the A25-54 demo.

At 8pmET, she finished 2nd on cable news in the demo (behind FNC) and 3rd in Total Viewers (behind FNC and CNN).

The main story Grace has been covering for more than a month has been the Caylee Anthony case.

CNN Worldwide EVP Ken Jautz tells TVNewser, “Nancy’s incredible ratings this week illustrate not only that she’s a great talent with a devoted fan base, but that our complementary programming strategy remains a success. If our viewers want to check out the best political coverage on TV, they can tune in to CNN. If they want to see Nancy do what she does best — shine a light on legal news and advocate for crime victims — they’ve got her Headline News show.”