More Than 19 Million Watched Jan. 6 Hearing, Early Tally Shows
By: John Koblin (The New York Times)
Let the spin begin.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
More than 19 million people watched the first prime-time hearing of the House Select Committee's investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on Thursday night, according to preliminary ratings figures from Nielsen.
That number will grow in the coming hours, as more networks are tallied and out-of-home viewing is factored in. Nielsen is expected to have a final viewership figure on Friday evening.
By scheduling a congressional hearing for 8 to 10 p.m., committee members and Democrats were hoping to make the case to the biggest audience possible. ABC, CBS and NBC pre-empted their prime-time programming and went into special-report mode to cover it live.
Though the Thursday night figure pales next to presidential debates (63 million to 73 million) or this year's State of the Union address (38 million), it's still much larger than the audience that would normally watch a daytime congressional hearing. And it's in the ballpark of television events like a big "Sunday Night Football" game or the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
ABC attracted the biggest audience among the broadcast networks, with 4.8 million viewers. NBC and CBS each had an audience of more than three million. MSNBC had an average audience of 4.2 million, and CNN drew 2.6 million.
Viewers who tuned in mostly stuck around for the entire congressional proceeding. Viewership on each of the broadcast networks remained steady between 8 and 10 p.m., according to half-hour Nielsen breakdowns.
While the broadcast networks gave up their prime-time entertainment offerings and CNN and MSNBC gave the hearing wall-to-wall coverage, there was a conspicuous outlier among the cable news networks. Fox News, the most-watched network in cable, did not carry the hearings live, instead sticking with its usual prime-time lineup.
The Fox News hosts Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity dedicated their shows to Jan. 6, and both had the hearing playing live in a split screen — but the feed from Congress was muted while the hosts spent two hours belittling the committee's efforts.
"It's deranged, and we're not playing along," Mr. Carlson said of the hearings. "This is the only hour on an American news channel that will not be carrying their propaganda live. They are lying, and we are not going to help them do it. What we will do instead is to try to tell you the truth."
Fox's counterprogramming efforts drew an average audience of three million, which is just about normal.
The Fox News anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum did cover the hearings live but did so on Fox Business, which attracts far fewer viewers. Roughly 223,000 people watched the hearings on Fox Business. When Mr. Baier and Ms. MacCallum switched over to Fox News for a two-hour special at 11 p.m., an average of 1.3 million watched.
Local affiliates of the Fox broadcast network had the option of picking up the Fox Business feed but were not required to do so. Some major Fox affiliates, like Los Angeles and Chicago, took the feed while others aired regularly scheduled unscripted programming. The Fox station in the New York market, for instance, elected to run episodes of "MasterChef Junior" and "Don't Forget the Lyrics."
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Meanwhile, back at the ranch, CPI inflation has clocked in at 8.6 pct. Gas prices are averaging $4.99 per gallon. New housing starts are down 16 pct and existing-home sales are down 4 pct. Consumer debt is increasing. Household wealth is falling.
The Jan. 6 'insurrection' happened 2 years, 5 months, and 4 days ago. And Donald Trump has not been charged with a crime in those 886 days.
No, January 2021 was one year five months ago...
Why divert from your own seed and misinform us?
You're right. I added a year too many. It only seems like it's been so much longer. Nevertheless I was wrong about the date and length of time.
862 people have been charged for various crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, 'insurrection'. But Trump hasn't been charged with anything in those 520 days. I suppose that Democrats will get around to it eventually. Maybe in another 2 years for the next election cycle. (Of course, Pelosi won't be able to run the big show by then so it will be up to whoever is running the FBI.)
Wheels of justice move very slowly indeed. But if you were in charge of the investigation, wouldn't you want to make sure that every single "i" is dotted and "t" is crossed?
Charging a former President with a crime, especially if that crime was committed in office, will absolutely break anyone's career if not done perfectly. And after Jan 6, people are aware just how brainwashed his followers actually are. Most believe he won the election, and was a good POTUS, showing that they care not a all about facts.
He was. Except for your psyche, how was your life worse during his presidency?
By what measurement?
The human fuck up machine you help vote in that currently occupies the Oval Office.
Entirely forgivable - I can't believe it's another seven months until there's two years remaining on Joey's clock.
Hearing or Democrat led inquisition? I have not decided yet.
More like a Hail Mary. Democrats can still blame Liz Cheney for not delivering.
Most of that 19 million watched some of it because it was much like a car wreck when you drive by it on the road. Just can't take your eyes off it.
Nothing more than a political sham.
Well if they counted everyone who tuned in, I did for about 3 minutes during Liz Cheney's "intro" and turned it off due to the fact that in that 3 minutes, I heard "Donald Trump" about 4 times. Figured that was all the shitshow was gonna be. "Let's get Trump". And by a lot of the commentary here today, that seems to be the major thrust of the bullshit. They don't care about the early warnings. They don't care about the incompetence of LEO, they don't care about the lack of planning. THOSE were the true causes that they were supposed to be investigating to aid in making sure "it never happens again". I believe the majority of people know that that was a bullshit reason and they really didn't care. That would point those three fingers right back at them. Fucking ridiculous.
most people flipped through channels looking for something to watch and kept coming across the sham.
Liberal thinking is if I stopped on ABC, NBC, CBS and MSDNC, then to them, 4 people watched it.
I watched the whole damn thing; but I had bets to win.
Thankfully it wasn't a drinking game. There would have been 25 people dead from alcohol over consumption.
Yep, some rubber necked heathens just have to keep watching.
19 million is a pretty big number, relatively. Especially considering all the doomsayers who were claiming few would watch.
Having it on three major broadcast networks didnt hurt either.
Think 19 million TDS driven idiots will save the Democrats come midterms?
"It is not those who oppose Trump who are deranged, but rather those voters who convinced themselves that a plutocrat authoritarian reality TV star con man and professional wrestler wannabe with no experience in government at any level was qualified to be president of the United States.
This is America's great national derangement.
Those who stand against and oppose Donald Trump are patriots who are trying to return the country to sanity."
You have been warned: "Trump Derangement Syndrome" will be a cudgel used to silence his critics | Salon.com
"They are lying, and we are not going to help them do it. What we will do instead is to try to tell you the truth." T. Carlson
Which fundamentally means a couple of truths will be slipped in to mask the lies for easier swallowing. Tucker's pronouncements should come with an FDA warning that they cause, as is obvious from his image, intense butthurt constipation.
Right, because the Jan 6th committee has produced what to back up their assertions so far? Video that the whole world has seen millions of time. Testimonials that were already released. Rehashing of information everyone already knew. And one accusation by Pelosi sock puppet Liz Cheney; which she offer absolutely no evidence to back up- but TDS driven idiots all gasped in unison.
This is all nothing but aggressive babbling. How is Cheney Pelosi's sock puppet? Because she opposes Trump and wants him gone from the national scene? Most sane people want him gone. He has been a plague on our nation.
Liz Cheney continues to have an extremely conservative voting record. The only thing she has done to make her a sock puppet in your eyes is oppose Trump. Get over it.
As far as rehashing of information, I guess it has to be rehashed until it gets through thick heads.
"By scheduling a congressional hearing for 8 to 10 p.m..."
That rat thar says circus. It's Impeachment 2.0.