Unsurprisingly, it was Fox News that was the top cable news network on July 4, with its coverage of President Trump’s Salute to America event delivering huge numbers for the network.
According to Nielsen data, the network’s coverage of the president’s remarks, anchored by Fox News chief congressional correspondent Mike Emanuel, attracted 4.65 million viewers from 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. ET, with 793,000 hailing from the 25-54 demo.
That’s a pretty big audience for a telecast airing on July 4th, regardless of whether it’s on broadcast or cable.
A significant chunk of that audience seemed stick around into the evening because last Thursday marked FNC’s most-watched July 4th ever in prime time in both total viewers (2.2 million) and 25-54 demo (370,000).
CNN also covered President Trump’s event, and its coverage hauled in 1.5 million viewers and 353,000 in the demo from 6:30 – 7:30 p.m.
MSNBC decided not to show the event and President Trump’s remarks, instead airing a re-run of Last Word at 6 p.m., and the first half of last month’s Democratic debate in the 7 p.m. hour.