Fox News’ Donald Trump Town Hall Scores 4.4 Million Viewers

Fox News’s live town hall event with Donald Trump on Wednesday night nabbed 4.4 million average viewers, according to early data from Nielsen Media Research.

The one-hour program which aired from 9-10 p.m. ET, competing directly with CNN’s Republican presidential debate, drew 576,000 average viewers in the key 25-54 demographic.

The town hall was moderated by Fox News anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum. The live event was the most-watched program on linear TV on Wednesday night.

The program competed directly with the first hour of CNN’s Republican debate with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, which was moderated by CNN anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash.

CNN’s debate drew an average of 2.7 million viewers for the first hour of the debate and 515,000 viewers in the 25-54 demographic. However, the network’s debate grew its audience in the demo hour-to-hour.

For the whole debate program, which lasted two hours, CNN scored 2.53 million total viewers and 509,000 viewers in the 25-54 demographic.

CNN ranked No. 1 in cable news among the all-important 25-54 demographic and the 18-34 demographic.

In the head-to-head competition, Fox News came out on top, outpacing CNN’s first hour of the debate by 64% in total viewers and 12% in the 25-54 demographic.

The most recent town hall on Fox News with the former president aired in May 2020 from 7-9 p.m. ET and delivered 3.8 million viewers, which was 13% lower than Wednesday’s event.

CNN hosted a controversial town hall with Trump in May 2023, which garnered 3.3. million total viewers.

There had been four Republican debates this election cycle prior to CNN’s first hosting gig. Ratings have been steadily dropping.

The first debate of the cycle, hosted by Fox News in August, brought in 12.8 million total viewers. The viewership for the first debate significantly surpassed expectations for the network, nabbing 2.82 million viewers in the 25-54 demographic. NewsNation’s debate was a 68% drop in total viewers from the first debate of this year.

The second Republican debate hosted by Fox Business Network drew in 9.5 million viewers across Fox News, Fox Business, and Univision. The event drew in 2 million viewers in the key cable demographic among adults 25-54.

NBC hosted the third debate in November, which drew 7.51 million average total viewers across linear television, digital, and streaming.

The most recent debate was hosted by NewsNation and drew more than 4 million average total viewers in a simulcast with the CW. Individually, NewsNation scored 1.6 million total viewers and 350,000 viewers in the 25-54 adult demographic.

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