Part 2 of 2: America’s fascination with the Casey Anthony trial continues. At the end of Day 8 of proceedings, Nancy Grace’s HLN show drew 517,000 A25-54 viewers, the second-most watched show (after “The O’Reilly Factor) with younger viewers in cable news Thursday.
Grace tells TVNewser why she thinks so many people are captivated by this case, three years after the crime. “I believe the nation, like me, fell in love with Caylee the first moment we saw her,” says Grace, who has been anchoring mostly from Orlando since May 18.
As the trial has brought viewers to HLN, HLN has covered the trial throughout. Live courtroom coverage during the day, and recaps at night on Grace’s show as well as on “Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell,” “Dr. Drew” and Joy Behar.
- Part 1 of 2: Casey Anthony trial tests boundaries of court TV
“This trial plays out like a classic Greek tragedy with the love and hate dynamics between grandmother, mother and daughter,” says Grace. “In this particular case, you have a physically attractive young defendant, articulate, and with great potential, the world at her
feet, and now we see her charged with the murder of her young daughter.”
On the opening day of the trial, Tuesday, May 24, HLN was the #1 cable news channel every hour from 2pm to 5pm in younger viewers with live courtroom coverage. And for the last week, HLN has consistently been #2 behind Fox News in both Total Viewers and A25-54 viewers during courtroom coverage.
It is the dichotomy of Casey Anthony, says Grace, that draws people in. “This is very difficult for a viewer to reconcile, and therein lies the mystery.”