For Michael Cohen Testimony, ABC Is Currently No. 1 Overall; Among Cable Newsers, CNN and MSNBC Battle to Split Decision

By A.J. Katz 

FRIDAY UPDATE: For the full NBC Special Report from 9:45 a.m. – 3 p.m. ET, NBC News averaged 2.49 million total viewers, 717,000 in the key A25-54 demo.

After final Nielsen live-plus-same-day data CBS actually moved past ABC in total viewers.

Below are the networks, ranked by total viewers

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  • CBS = 3.04 million total viewers from 9:52 a.m. – 2:07 p.m.
  • ABC = 2.95 million total from 9:45 a.m. – 3 p.m.
  • MSNBC = 2.87 million total from 10 a.m. – 2:34 p.m.
  • NBC = 2.49 million total viewers from 9:45 a.m. – 3 p.m.
  • Fox News = 2.27 million total viewers from 9:48 a.m. – 2:33 p.m.
  • CNN = 2.08 million total viewers from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Altogether, that’s nearly 16 million Americans watching the Cohen testimony across 6 Nielsen-measured TV networks. And that doesn’t even include Nielsen-measured Spanish language networks or folks watching on digital platforms.

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ORIGINAL POST: Thursday, 5:05 p.m. ET:

Early Nielsen ratings for Wednesday’s coverage of Michael Cohen‘s House Oversight Committee testimony are in.

Nielsen determined that per early national data, CNN was No. 1 cable news network in the A25-54 demo, averaging 593,000 viewers during the live testimony coverage period of 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. MSNBC was No. 1 in cable news among total viewers, hauling in 2.9 million during that same time interval.

The ABC News live coverage of the testimony topped the competition, both broadcast and cable, across the board. The coverage undoubtedly got a nice bump from its lead in, Kelly & Ryan, which is traditionally TV’s most popular show in the 9 a.m. ET hour.

That could change, however, once final data arrives.

NBC, Univision, Telemundo, and Fox Broadcasting aired special reports, not all stations carried the coverage of the hearing so they are not included in the early Nielsen national ratings.

*We’ll update this story when final Nielsen live-plus-same-day data arrives.

Here’s the broadcast and cable network live common coverage breakdown:

  • 10 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. ET \ Total Viewers / A25-54 demo

ABC – 3,097,000 / 760,000
CBS – 3,060,000 / 662,000
MSNBC – 2,874,000 / 457,000
Fox News – 2,289,000 / 381,000
CNN– 2,079,000 / 562,000

Here’s the cable news live coverage breakdown:

  • 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. ET \ Total Viewers / A25-54 demo

MSNBC – 2,858,000 / 456,000
Fox News –  2,378,000 / 394,000
CNN –  2,172,000 / 593,000

Shifting to prime time – Fox News focused more of its coverage on the summit featuring Pres. Trump and Kim Jong Un in Hanoi, and finished No. 1 in the daypart among total viewers. MSNBC continued to mostly cover the events from earlier in the day, finished No. 1 in prime time among adults 25-54.

  • Prime time 8-11 p.m. ET

Fox News – 3,447,000 / 629,000
MSNBC –  3,137,000 / 645,000
CNN –  1,788,000 / 577,000

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