President Biden’s first interview of 2022 took place with NBC News’ Lester Holt during the week of Feb. 7. In addition, it was his first formal chat since celebrating his first full year in office. Among the topics discussed were Russia’s potential invasion of Ukraine, mask mandates, and his Supreme Court nomination process. Most notable was Biden describing Holt as a “wise guy” during their discussion about recent inflation.
Holt’s interview with Biden ran for 20 minutes, but upon airing, it was split into three parts. The first part was on Thursday, Feb. 10 edition of the “NBC Nightly News,” which drew 6.48 million total viewers and 1.21 million in the key 25-54 demographic that evening, according to Nielsen Media Research. The second part on NBC’s “Today” on Friday, Feb. 11 — 3 million total (including 866,000 adults 25-54) tuned in from 7–9 AM eastern. Biden’s presence, as well as NBC’s continued Winter Olympics coverage, was not enough for each of those programs to top their respective ABC counterparts, “World News Tonight” (8.42 million total viewers & 1.56 million adults 25-54 on Feb. 11) and “Good Morning America” (3.4 million total viewers & 955,000 adults 25-54 on Feb. 12). As for “NBC Nightly News,” the Feb. 11 edition scored its second-lowest figures for the week; for Feb. 7-11, the evening news program averaged 6.47 million viewers and 1.27 million adults 25-54.
The final part of Biden’s interview aired in a 3-minute segment on NBC’s Super Bowl pre-game. In this excerpt, Biden chided the National Football League for its minimal minority head coaching hires. Between 3:03–3:30 PM Eastern (the Biden excerpt was at 3:15 PM ET), NBC drew 8.33 million total viewers and approximately 3.25 million adults 25-54. Prior presidential interviews on Super Bowl Sunday in previous years aired closer to the Big Game start time and for a much lengthier amount of time; thus, past segments drew much larger audiences. For example, in 2020, Fox’s Sean Hannity interview with Donald Trump attracted an estimated 10.3 million viewers. Barack Obama’s first pre-Super Bowl interview with NBC in 2009 had drawn a robust 22 million viewers.
Cable news averages for February 7-13, 2022:
Total Day (February 7-13 @ 6 a.m.-5:59 a.m.)
- Fox News Channel: 1.498 million viewers; 237,000 adults 25-54
- MSNBC: 0.621 million viewers; 67,000 adults 25-54
- CNN: 0.444 million viewers; 92,000 adults 25-54
- HLN: 0.201 million viewers; 58,000 adults 25-54
- The Weather Channel: 0.109 million viewers; 20,000 adults 25-54
- CNBC: 0.172 million viewers; 49,000 adults 25-54
- Newsmax: 0.121 million viewers; 18,000 adults 25-54
- Fox Business Network: 0.100 million viewers; 10,000 adults 25-54
Prime Time (February 7-12 @ 8-11 p.m.; February 13 @ 7-11 p.m.)
- Fox News Channel: 2.382 million viewers; 367,000 adults 25-54
- MSNBC: 1.025 million viewers; 121,000 adults 25-54
- CNN: 0.491 million viewers; 122,000 adults 25-54
- Newsmax: 0.139 million viewers; 23,000 adults 25-54
- HLN: 0.191 million viewers; 58,000 adults 25-54
- CNBC: 0.298 million viewers; 101,000 adults 25-54
- The Weather Channel: 0.126 million viewers; 32,000 adults 25-54
- Fox Business Network: 0.060 million viewers; 7,000 adults 25-54
Top 10 most-watched cable news programs (and the top MSNBC, CNN, and HBO programs with their respective associated ranks) in total viewers:
1. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Thu. 2/10/2022 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.673 million viewers
2. The Five (FOXNC, Mon. 2/7/2022 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.616 million viewers
3. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Wed. 2/9/2022 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.580 million viewers
4. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Mon. 2/7/2022 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.509 million viewers
5. The Five (FOXNC, Wed. 2/9/2022 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.491 million viewers
6. The Five (FOXNC, Thu. 2/10/2022 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.430 million viewers
7. The Five (FOXNC, Tue. 2/8/2022 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.406 million viewers
8. The Five (FOXNC, Fri. 2/11/2022 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.382 million viewers
9. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Fri. 2/11/2022 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.336 million viewers
10. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Tue. 2/8/2022 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.250 million viewers
48. Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC, Wed. 2/9/2022 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 1.731 million viewers
164. The Lead with Jake Tapper (CNN, Mon. 2/7/2022 4:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.756 million viewers
165. Real Time With Bill Maher “589” (HBO, Fri. 2/11/2022 10:00 PM, 58 min.) 0.756 million viewers
Top 10 cable news programs (and the top MSNBC, CNN, and HLN programs with their respective associated ranks) among adults 25-54:
1. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Thu. 2/10/2022 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.592 million adults 25-54
2. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Mon. 2/7/2022 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.588 million adults 25-54
3. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Wed. 2/9/2022 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.575 million adults 25-54
4. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Tue. 2/8/2022 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.548 million adults 25-54
5. The Five (FOXNC, Tue. 2/8/2022 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.513 million adults 25-54
6. The Five (FOXNC, Mon. 2/7/2022 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.497 million adults 25-54
7. Hannity (FOXNC, Thu. 2/10/2022 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.491 million adults 25-54
8. Jesse Watters Primetime (FOXNC, Wed. 2/9/2022 7:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.477 million adults 25-54
9. Jesse Watters Primetime (FOXNC, Mon. 2/7/2022 7:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.467 million adults 25-54
10. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Fri. 2/11/2022 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.461 million adults 25-54
94. Don Lemon Tonight (CNN, Wed. 2/9/2022 10:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.201 million adults 25-54
95. Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC, Mon. 2/7/2022 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.201 million adults 25-54
127. Forensic Files “Dirty Little Secret” (HLN, Fri. 2/11/2022 11:30 PM, 30 min.) 0.164 million adults 25-54
132. The Daily Show “44600” (CMDY, Tue. 2/8/2022 11:00 PM, 31 min.) 0.163 million adults 25-54
180. Real Time With Bill Maher “589” (HBO, Fri. 2/11/2022 10:00 PM, 58 min.) 0.136 million adults 25-54
Source: Live+Same Day data, Nielsen Media Research
