Friday, September 28, 2018

TV Ratings: Senate Hearing Pulls Huge Numbers

The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Thursday drew a massive audience for the cable news networks, according to Variety.

The hearing–which saw testimony from both Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault–aired throughout most of the day Thursday.

Fox News led the pack in total viewers throughout the day, averaging 5.66 million viewers from 10 a.m.-6:45 p.m. ET. MSNBC was second in total viewers with 2.88 million for the same time period, with CNN finishing third with 2.51 million.

In the key news demo of adults 25-54, Fox News was also first in the same time period with an average of 1.06 million viewers. CNN was second with 730,000 and MSNBC was third with 461,000.

Coverage for all three networks peaked during Kavanaugh’s testimony, which took place from approximately 3:15 p.m.-6:45 p.m. Fox News led with an average 7.17 million viewers during that time with 1.4 million in the key demo. MSNBC was second in total viewers with 3.18 million but third in the demo with 553,000. CNN was third in total viewers with 2.78 million but second in the demo with 856,000.

Meanwhile,  “Murphy Brown” returned to television on Thursday, with the CBS sitcom revival drawing mediocre numbers in the overnight ratings.

Airing at 9:30 p.m., “Murphy Brown” averaged a 1.1 rating in adults 18-49 and 7.4 million viewers. By comparison, the revival of “Roseanne” on ABC stunned Hollywood with a 5.2 rating and 18.4 million viewers earlier this year.

In fairness, “Murphy Brown” was airing against “Thursday Night Football” on Fox, but it also had the advantage of a lead-in from established shows like “Big Bang Theory,” “Young Sheldon,” and “Mom.”

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