TV Ratings: 5M+ Persons Watched Carlson's Rittenhouse Interview

Tucker Carlson reached 5.05 million viewers for his Kyle Rittenhouse interview on Monday, the Fox News Channel opinion host’s largest audience since the night of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Rittenhouse was acquitted on murder charges last week and Carlson was given the chance for the post-trial interview because of the support he had shown him, according to the 18-year-old’s family.

Carlson has averaged 3.16 million viewers on a typical night this year, reports The Associated Press citing Nielsen data.

ABC News and Diane Sawyer had strong ratings for her Friday night interview with members of a California family held captive for many years by their parents. That “20/20” episode reached more than 7.4 million viewers

Fox broadcasting was the top-rated network in prime time last week, averaging 5.4 million viewers. NBC had 4.8 million, CBS had 4.5 million, ABC had 4.1 million, Univision had 1.5 million, Telemundo had 1 million and Ion Television had 880,000.

📺TV's Top 20 Prime Time Shows (Total Viewers):

1. NFL Football: Pittsburgh at L.A. Chargers, NBC, 14.55 million.

2. NFL Football: New England at Atlanta, Fox, 13.52 million.

3. “The OT,” Fox, 11.6 million.

4. “NFL Pregame,” NBC, 11.2 million.

5. NFL Football: L.A. Rams at San Francisco, ESPN, 10.7 million.

6. “NFL Pregame,” Fox, 8.59 million.

7. “Football Night in America, Part 3,” NBC, 8.54 million.

8. “FBI,” CBS, 7.61 million.

9. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 7.58 million.

10. “Yellowstone,” Paramount, 7.42 million.

11. “20/20,” ABC, 7.41 million.

12. “Young Sheldon,” CBS, 6.95 million.

13. “The Voice” (Tuesday), NBC, 6.78 million.

14. “The Equalizer,” CBS, 6.59 million.

15. “The Voice” (Monday), NBC, 6.56 million.

16. “FBI: International,” CBS, 5.96 million.

17. “Blue Bloods,” CBS, 5.79 million.

18. “Survivor,” CBS, 5.77 million.

19. “FBI: Most Wanted,” CBS, 5.64 million.

20. “NFL Pregame,” ESPN, 5.5 million.

ABC’s “World News Tonight” won the evening news ratings race with an average of 8.3 million viewers. NBC’s “Nightly News” had 7.2 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 5.4 million.

Fox News Channel was the most-watched cable news channel in prime time, averaging 2.89 million viewers. ESPN had 2.31 million, Hallmark had 1.58 million, MSNBC had 1.18 million and HGTV had 893,000.

Graphics courtesy of RoadMN

On the programming front, The Five earned the status as the most-watched show on cable news for the second consecutive week, averaging 3.89 million viewers and 687,000 adults 25-54 for the week of Nov. 15. Tucker Carlson Tonight remained No. 2 in average total viewers (3.82 million) and finished No. 1 on cable news among adults 25-54 (728,000). Hannity finished third in average total viewers (3.345 million) followed by Special Report with Bret Baier (3.09 million), and Fox News Primetime (2.81 million) rounding out the top 5 in average total viewers. 

Graphics Courtesy of RoadMN

TV Newser reports Fox News had the 10 most-watched cable news shows last week, and the top 15 among adults 25-54. MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show fell from No. 7 to No. 11 on cable news in average total viewers (2.06 million). MSNBC’s powerhouse program actually posted week-to-week growth in total viewers, but Fox News programming gained even more viewers from the prior week.