MSNBC Draws 3 Million Viewers For January 6 Hearing, Beating Fox News And CNN

WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 12: Stephen Ayres (L), who entered the U.S. Capitol illegally on January 6, … [+] 2021, and Jason Van Tatenhove (R), who served as national spokesman for the Oath Keepers and as a close aide to Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, are sworn-in during the seventh hearing by the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol in the Cannon House Office Building on July 12, 2022, in Washington, DC. The bipartisan committee, which has been gathering evidence for almost a year related to the January 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol, is presenting its findings in a series of televised hearings. On January 6, 2021, supporters of former President Donald Trump attacked the U.S. Capitol Building during an attempt to disrupt a congressional vote to confirm the electoral college win for President Joe Biden. (Photo by Demetrius Freeman-Pool/Getty Images)

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More than 3 million people watched MSNBC’s live coverage of Tuesday afternoon’s hearing from the House select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection—giving the network its seventh consecutive ratings win over Fox News Channel and CNN, according to fast national ratings data compiled by Nielsen.

MSNBC finished first during between 12 p.m. and 4 p.m. ET, and for the total day (6 a.m. to 2 a.m. ET) and dayside hours (10 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET). Among viewers 25-54, the demographic group most valued by advertisers, MSNBC drew 392,000 viewers—the network’s largest audience to date for daytime hearings of the January 6 committee.

MSNBC finished #1 in cable news during extended hearing coverage (12pm-4pm), dayside (10am-4pm), and total day (6am-2am), and tripled CNN’s audience in prime time, which was dominated by analysis of the day’s hearing. Fox News Channel, however, took its traditional position as the most-watched cable news network in prime.

WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 12: (L-R) Conservative political consultant Roger Stone, far-right radio show … [+] host Alex Jones, and “Stop the Steal” organizer Ali Alexander appear on a video screen above members of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol during the seventh hearing on the January 6th investigation in the Cannon House Office Building on July 12, 2022 in Washington, DC. The bipartisan committee, which has been gathering evidence for almost a year related to the January 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol, is presenting its findings in a series of televised hearings. On January 6, 2021, supporters of former President Donald Trump attacked the U.S. Capitol Building during an attempt to disrupt a congressional vote to confirm the electoral college win for President Joe Biden. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

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Testimony Tuesday afternoon focused on right-wing extremist groups and the chaos that unfolded inside the White House in the days after the 2020 election through January 6. MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace called it “arguably the most dramatic public hearing” to date. “It was jaw dropping until the very last moment.”

Last month, MSNBC’s coverage of the January 6 committee drew a total audience of 3 million viewers for the second day of hearings into the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, easily outdistancing the combined audience of CNN (1.8 million viewers) and Fox News Channel, which trailed with 1 million viewers—a very rare third-place finish for Fox. That day, for the hours of 10 a.m. through 4 p.m. ET, MSNBC had its highest-rated dayside since February 2021 during coverage of President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial.

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/markjoyella/2022/07/13/msnbc-draws-3-million-viewers-for-january-6-hearing-beating-fox-news-and-cnn/