Despite airing what had been s highly-publicized Town Hall featuring former FBI Director James Comey–one that President Trump also admitted watching–CNN finished behind Fox news and MSNBC among total viewers for the 8 p.m. ET hour.
FNC’s Tucker Carlson Tonight drew 2.79 million total viewers. MSNBC’s Chris Hayes averaged 1.68 million, and Anderson Cooper-James Comey Town Hall posted 1.63 million.
That said, the Town Hall performed better relative to its competition in the all-important A25-54 demo. CNN posted 559,000 demo viewers from 8 – 9 p.m., on par with Carlson who also averaged 559,000.
The Town Hall aired until 9:20 p.m. ET, and based on the early Nielsen data shown below, viewership seemed to have dropped sharply after the clock struck 9 p.m. At that time, some Town Hall viewers very likely changed the channel to MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow or to FNC’s Sean Hannity.
8-10 p.m. ET (CNN Comey Town Hall from 8 p.m. ET to 9:20 p.m. ET)
FNC 3,146,000 total viewers / 657,000 A25-54
CNN 1,625,000 total viewers / 545,000 A25-54
MSNBC 2,211,000 total viewers / 476,000 A25-54
8 – 9 p.m. ET
FNC’s Tucker Carlson Tonight: 2,785,000 total viewers / 559,000 A25-54
CNN’s Town Hall: 1,647,055 total viewers / 559,000 A25-54
MSNBC’s All in with Chris Hayes: 1,683,000 total viewers / 353,000 A25-54
9 – 10 p.m. ET
FNC’s Hannity: 3,508,000 total viewers / 754,000 A25-54
CNN’s Chris Cuomo: 1,602,000 total viewers / 532,000 A25-54
MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow: 2,739,000 total viewers / 600,000 A25-54
10- 11 p.m. ET
FNC’s The Ingraham Angle: 2,511,000 total viewers / 516,000 A25-54
CNN Tonight: 1,153,000 total viewers / 406,000 A25-54
MSNBC’s Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell: 2,346,000 total viewers / 479,000 A25-54