Trump Bump: Cable-News Networks’ Ratings Soar

Former President Donald Trump’s indictment and subsequent arraignment gave a viewership jolt to major cable-news networks, all of which posted double-digit percentage increases in ratings from a week earlier, reports The Wall Street Journal. 

Fox Corp.’s Fox News was the most-watched news network from March 30 through April 5—a period that included the day the grand jury voted to indict Trump, and the day he was arraigned—averaging nearly 1.5 million total-day viewers, according to Nielsen. Rivals MSNBC and CNN averaged more than one million and 631,000 viewers respectively over that period.

Fox News, which has consistently been a leader in the ratings, saw a viewership spike of 13%. MSNBC and CNN’s total-day ratings were up 36% and 35%, respectively, compared with the period from March 23 to March 29. 

The ratings boost comes as cable news networks have struggled to keep viewers after the height of the pandemic and the 2020 presidential election. 

Trump over the past week dominated cable-TV news coverage in ways not seen since he left office in early 2021. That included his travels from his Florida home to New York and to a lower Manhattan courthouse. Mr. Trump later flew back to Florida, where he gave a speech just hours after his arraignment in New York City.

The arraignment of Trump marked a historic moment in U.S. politics: the first time a former president has been charged and booked for a crime. Manhattan prosecutors allege that he orchestrated a scheme to bolster his 2016 presidential campaign by paying hush money to suppress potentially damaging sexual allegations. Trump on Tuesday pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.