CNN's Riot Coverage Was Most-Watched

The coverage of the siege on the U.S. Capitol building drove CNN to record ratings. In fact, Wednesday was the most-watched day in the network’s history, reports The Wrap.

In addition, more TV viewers got their news via CNN than on any other TV channel. Yes, that includes broadcast television as well as cable — and it holds true for any part of the day.

From 8 to 11 p.m. ET on Wednesday, CNN averaged 8.203 million total primetime viewers to competitor MSNBC’s 7.382 million total viewers, according to Nielsen. Fox News finished in third place among the cable news networks — but not third overall, more on that in a bit — with an average of 4.577 million total viewers across those three hours.

In “total day” ratings, which examines the 24-hour period beginning at 3 a.m. on Wednesday, CNN averaged 5.221 million total viewers to MSNBC’s 4.006 million total viewers and Fox News Channel’s 2.988 million total viewers.

The 1. CNN, 2. MSNBC, 3. Fox News order among the cable news channels maintained in the key news demographic of adults 25-54.

On broadcast, NBC averaged 5.774 million total viewers throughout its three-hour primetime coverage of the sad day in our nation’s history. ABC News’ efforts averaged 4.882 million total viewers, good for second place on the free over-the-air networks.

TV RATINGS: Wednesday, huge audiences turned to cable news for coverage from the Capitol with up to 23 million total viewers watching the three main cable news channels at the height of the troubles.https://t.co/KYFoPbk51C pic.twitter.com/rG7sST3ZPu

— TV News HQ (@TVNewsHQ) January 7, 2021