The third CNN town hall since the network’s controversial Trump event from May 10 was, by far, its most-watched thus far. Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was the focus on the night of June 12.
Anderson Cooper moderated the town hall; with that, Nielsen Media Research tabulated the event as a special edition of Anderson Cooper 360. Christie’s been the most outspoken critic of presumed Republican frontrunner Donald Trump.
Christie’s 96-minute town hall on Monday, June 12 (from 8-9:36 p.m. Eastern) drew 1.347 million total viewers including 239,015 within the key 25-54 demographic, according to Nielsen Media Research. That’s more than twice the total audience and nearly double the adults 25-54 of Mike Pence’s town hall from June 7th.
Like the town halls of Nikki Haley and Mike Pence, Chris Christie also aired opposite an NBA Finals telecast from ABC (Game 5 between the Denver Nuggets and the Miami Heat; the final game of the season). A midnight Eastern rebroadcast drew 380,762 viewers and 114,034 adults 25-54.
One of the contributing factors to that viewer boost was what was to come on the following day (June 13): Donald Trump arriving in Miami to be arraigned on federal charges for the possession of classified documents.
As expected, every cable news outlet saw an uplift of their viewership as compared to their normal weekday figures because of the June 13th arraignment, with MSNBC emerging as the mid-afternoon leader in total viewers. CNN earned the lead in adults 25-54. The breakdown of the bulk of live coverage took place from 1-4 p.m. Eastern:
1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Eastern
- MSNBC (1-3 p.m. ET): 1.846 million viewers; 218,650 adults 25-54
- Fox News Channel: 1.458 million viewers; 185,891 adults 25-54
- CNN: 1.232 million viewers; 240,424 adults 25-54
- Newsmax (noon-2 p.m. ET): 0.260 million viewers; 15,385 adults 25-54
- NewsNation: 0.066 million viewers; )7,978 adults 25-54
2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Eastern
- MSNBC (1-3 p.m. ET): 1.846 million viewers; 218,650 adults 25-54
- Fox News Channel: 1.725 million viewers; 221,658 adults 25-54
- CNN: 1.544 million viewers; 314,066 adults 25-54
- Newsmax (2-4 p.m. ET): 0.361 million viewers; 33,071 adults 25-54
- NewsNation (2-4 p.m. ET): 0.058 million viewers; 8,317 adults 25-54
3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern
- MSNBC: 2.302 million viewers; 310,547 adults 25-54
- Fox News Channel: 1.747 million viewers; 178,620 adults 25-54
- CNN: 1.569 million viewers; 287,290 adults 25-54
- Newsmax (2-4 p.m. ET): 0.361 million viewers; 33,071 adults 25-54
- NewsNation (2-4 p.m. ET): 0.058 million viewers; 8,317 adults 25-54
Cable news programming in the early evening and primetime hours on June 13 also thrived in the ratings. Five of the top ten most-watched cable news telecasts of the week ending June 18 had aired on that Tuesday date; even starker was that nine of the week’s top ten among the key 25-54 demographic were also from June 13 (rankings listed at the bottom of this article).
The June 13th edition of Newsmax’s No. 1 program “Eric Bolling The Balance” at 8 p.m. achieved its best-ever mark of 863,000 total viewers. That’s +57,000 more than its Apr. 4th edition that featured Trump’s speech from his Mar-a-Lago estate that followed his first arraignment of the year. (In 25-54, though, June 13th “Bolling” was 38,000 short of Apr. 4’s demo performance.)
For the week overall, Fox News Channel returned atop prime time for cable news in total viewers but for the second week in a row, thanks to the news-heavy June 13, MSNBC led cable news in adults 25-54 at night, ahead of FNC by just +1,000 within the demo.
Cable news averages for June 12-18, 2023:
Total Day (June 12-18 @ 6 a.m.-5:59 a.m.)
- Fox News Channel: 1.109 million viewers; 130,000 adults 25-54
- MSNBC: 0.911 million viewers; 108,000 adults 25-54
- CNN: 0.508 million viewers; 102,000 adults 25-54
- Newsmax: 0.183 million viewers; 17,000 adults 25-54
- HLN: 0.161 million viewers; 46,000 adults 25-54
- CNBC: 0.119 million viewers; 27,000 adults 25-54
- Fox Business Network: 0.114 million viewers; 16,000 adults 25-54
- The Weather Channel: 0.085 million viewers; 16,000 adults 25-54
Prime Time (June 12-17 @ 8-11 p.m.; June 18 @ 7-11 p.m.)
- Fox News Channel: 1.567 million viewers; 158,000 adults 25-54
- MSNBC: 1.444 million viewers; 159,000 adults 25-54
- CNN: 0.654 million viewers; 132,000 adults 25-54
- Newsmax: 0.316 million viewers; 30,000 adults 25-54
- HLN: 0.181 million viewers; 50,000 adults 25-54
- CNBC: 0.160 million viewers; 39,000 adults 25-54
- Fox Business Network: 0.130 million viewers; 37,000 adults 25-54
- NewsNation: 0.106 million viewers; 20,000 adults 25-54
- The Weather Channel: 0.096 million viewers; 15,000 adults 25-54
Top 10 most-watched cable news programs (and the top programs of other outlets with their respective associated ranks) in total viewers:
1. The Five (FOXNC, Tue. 6/13/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.984 million viewers
2. Hannity (FOXNC, Tue. 6/13/2023 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.867 million viewers
3. The Five (FOXNC, Mon. 6/12/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.755 million viewers
4. The Five (FOXNC, Wed. 6/14/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.682 million viewers
5. Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC, Mon. 6/12/2023 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.652 million viewers
6. The Five (FOXNC, Thu. 6/15/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.499 million viewers
7. Jesse Watters Primetime (FOXNC, Tue. 6/13/2023 7:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.454 million viewers
8. Alex Wagner Tonight “Classified Documents Trump Arraignment” (MSNBC, Tue. 6/13/2023 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.448 million viewers
9. Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell “Classified Documents Trump Arraignment” (MSNBC, Tue. 6/13/2023 10:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.418 million viewers
10. Fox News Tonight (FOXNC, Tue. 6/13/2023 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.413 million viewers
55. Trump Arrest/Arraignment “Federal” (CNN, Tue. 6/13/2023 3:00 PM, 60 min.) 1.569 million viewers
176. Eric Bolling The Balance (NMX, Tue. 6/13/2023 8:00 PM, 75 min.) 0.863 million viewers
417. Forensic Files (HLN, late Sat. 6/17/2023 2:00 AM, 30 min.) 0.332 million viewers
474. Kudlow (FBN, Mon. 6/12/2023 4:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.285 million viewers
544. Closing Bell (CNBC, Wed. 6/14/2023 3:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.244 million viewers
659. Cuomo (NWSN, Wed. 6/14/2023 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.197 million viewers
681. Highway Thru Hell “Ice Storm” (TWC, Sat. 6/17/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.189 million viewers
953. Corrupt Crimes (COURT TV, Sun. 6/18/2023 8:30 AM, 30 min.) 0.103 million viewers
Top 10 cable news programs (and the top programs of other outlets with their respective associated ranks) among adults 25-54:
1. Hannity (FOXNC, Tue. 6/13/2023 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.348 million adults 25-54
2. The Five (FOXNC, Tue. 6/13/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.333 million adults 25-54
3. Trump Arrest/Arraignment “Federal” (CNN, Tue. 6/13/2023 2:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.314 million adults 25-54
4. Katy Tur Reports “Classified Documents Trump Arraignment” (MSNBC, Tue. 6/13/2023 3:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.311 million adults 25-54
5. Gutfeld! (FOXNC, Tue. 6/13/2023 11:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.300 million adults 25-54
6. The Five (FOXNC, Wed. 6/14/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.295 million adults 25-54
7. All In with Chris Hayes (MSNBC, Tue. 6/13/2023 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.291 million adults 25-54
8. Alex Wagner Tonight “Classified Documents Trump Arraignment” (MSNBC, Tue. 6/13/2023 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.291 million adults 25-54
9. Trump Arrest/Arraignment “Federal” (CNN, Tue. 6/13/2023 3:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.287 million adults 25-54
10. Deadline: White House “Classified Documents Trump Arraignment” (MSNBC, Tue. 6/13/2023 4:00 PM, 120 min.) 0.286 million adults 25-54
119. Forensic Files (HLN, Sun. 6/18/2023 11:00 PM, 30 min.) 0.142 million adults 25-54
353. Eric Bolling The Balance (NMX, Tue. 6/13/2023 8:00 PM, 75 min.) 0.080 million adults 25-54
474. Power Lunch (CNBC, Wed. 6/14/2023 2:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.060 million adults 25-54
597. Weekend Recharge (TWC, Sun. 6/18/2023 12:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.047 million adults 25-54
659. Banfield (NWSN, Thu. 6/15/2023 10:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.040 million adults 25-54
678. I Survived (COURT TV, Sat. 6/17/2023 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.037 million adults 25-54
823. American Built (FBN, Mon. 6/12/2023 12:30 AM, 30 min.) 0.024 million adults 25-54
Source: Live+Same Day data, Nielsen Media Research
