Cable news viewing spiked at mid-day Thursday as the networks turned their attention to O.J. Simpson‘s parole board hearing. The hearing began around 1 p.m. ET. After about 1 hour and 15 minutes of testimony, the panel deliberated and returned with its decision, granting parole, just before 3 p.m. ET.
CNN nearly doubled its audience in the demo from Noon (185,000 average) to 1 p.m. (356,000 average). The network’s 2 p.m. hour (1.198M) was its most-watched hour of the day. The 2 p.m. hour was also HLN’s most-watched of the day (585,000). It’s rare than any hour on HLN tops more than 300,000 total viewers.
Fox News was most-watched on cable for the hearing coverage, while CNN was No. 1 in the demo. ABC, NBC, and CBS also carried the hearing as did several streaming networks.
Fox News – 1.738M / 333,000
CNN – 1.125M / 347,000
MSNBC – 961,000 / 199,000
HLN – 560,000 / 184,000