Nearly 20 million people watched on TV last Thursday night’s first hearing of the House Select Committee investigating the attack on Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021.
Each of the major networks broadcast a live audience of around two hours.
ABC had the most viewers, with 4.8 million. NBC and CBS had 3.5 million and 3.3 million, respectively.
On cable, MSNBC drew 4.1 million viewers, nearly four times the network average on a typical weeknight.
Fox News was the No. 2 cable channel Thursday night, averaging 3 million viewers from 8 to 10 pm CNN was No. 3 with 2.6 million.
Fox drew criticism for its decision not to air continuous live coverage of the hearings on its main cable channel. The network didn’t preempt its regularly scheduled talk shows with hosts Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham.
These preliminary figures are likely to increase because they do not include viewers who watched the hearing via the YouTubeTV streaming service or other platforms.
Those almost 20 million viewers is a lower figure than that obtained by other major political events in prime time.
President Biden’s State of the Union address last March drew 38 million viewers, but that night’s audience is far larger than a typical session of Congress.
