Fox News had a big second half of the week. Not only did its ratings dwarf those of its competition on Thursday, the day of the Kavanaugh-Ford hearing, but it also finished No. 1 for the 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. ET time period, when the Senate Judiciary Committee vote on sending Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination to the floor of the Senate.
Fox News delivered 3.7 million in total viewers and 719,000 in the A25-54 demo during that interval, topping both CNN and MSNBC combined in total viewers and finishing ahead of them in the 25-54 demo.
There was a lot of drama during those five hours, which undoubtedly played a significant role in the ratings growth.
Arizona Republican Sen. Jeff Flake, long considered the only Republican who could conceivably vote against his party, announced his intention to support Kavanaugh Friday morning. But the vote took an extraordinary turn not long after. Two women who said they were sexual assault survivors confronted him on an elevator.
The moment was captured on video and went viral. Hours later, Flake appeared to shift his position, with a nudge from his friend Delaware Democratic Sen. Chris Coons. Sen. Flake voted to advance Kavanaugh’s nomination out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, but indicated he could only vote to confirm Kavanaugh if there was an FBI investigation into sexual misconduct claims against him, thus delaying the vote.
Sen. Flake’s official announcement that he felt is was “proper” to delay the Kavanaugh vote for up to a week came a few minutes before 2 p.m.
Harris Faulkner was anchoring Fox News’ coverage. Wolf Blitzer was on for CNN. Ali Velshi & Stephanie Ruhle were on for MSNBC.
Friday, Sept. 28 (9 a.m. – 2 p.m. ET)
| Fox News | CNN | MSNBC | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 3,661,000 |
1,797,000 | 1,755,000 |
| • A25-54: | 719,000 | 511,000 | 317,000 |
*Nielsen live-plus-same-day data