While the legal woes of Donald Trump seem to have scarce effect on his standing as the presumptive Republican nominee for U.S. President, it nonetheless garners extra attention for those covering those issues.
This past Friday (Jan. 26), a jury in New York City awarded $83.3 million to journalist and advice columnist E. Jean Carroll for Trump’s continued social media attacks against her over her claims that he sexually assaulted her in a Manhattan department store back in 1996.
This award was in addition to a $5 million sexual assault and defamation verdict against Trump in May 2023 from another jury in a case brought by Carroll.
Breaking news of the announcement of this verdict came on Friday, Jan. 26 at about 4:45 PM Eastern. Compared to the previous Fridays in January – the same month that also focused on the recent Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary – both CNN and MSNBC rose significantly in their respective timeslots:
CNN
- 4-5 PM: 811,000 viewers (+44% from 1/19/24; +20% from 1/12/24; +9% from 1/5/24)
- 5-6 PM: 965,000 viewers (+59% from 1/19/24; +51% from 1/12/24; +36% from 1/5/24)
- 6–7 PM: 828,000 viewers (+46% from 1/19/24; +31% from 1/12/24; +15% from 1/5/24)
- 7–8 PM: 697,000 viewers (+19% from 1/19/24; +8% from 1/12/24; +4% from 1/5/24)
MSNBC
- 4-6 PM: 1.879 million viewers (+33% from 1/19/24; +39% from 1/12/24; +28% from 1/5/24)
- 6–7 PM: 1.935 million viewers (+47% from 1/19/24; +37% from 1/12/24; +32% from 1/5/24)
- 7–8 PM: 1.535 million viewers (+27% from 1/19/24; +26% from 1/12/24; +18% from 1/5/24)
While the right-leaning Fox News Channel again led that time period in total viewers, the outlet actually drew less than some of its recent previous Fridays:
- 4-5 PM: 1.425 million viewers (+3% from 1/19/24; +3% from 1/12/24; +8% from 1/5/24)
- 5–6 PM: 2.811 million viewers (-2% from 1/19/24; -7% from 1/12/24; +3% from 1/5/24)
- 6–7 PM: 2.171 million viewers (-2% from 1/19/24; -1% from 1/12/24; +8% from 1/5/24)
- 7–8 PM: 2.060 million viewers (-6% from 1/19/24; -2% from 1/12/24; +7% from 1/5/24)
As discussion of the verdict entered into prime time on Jan. 26, each of the three major cable news outlets had their most–watched and highest–rated Friday night of January 2024, with the left–leaning MSNBC growing the most, percentage-wise:
- Fox News Channel: 2.288 million viewers (+3% from 1/19/24; +3% from 1/12/24; +13% from 1/5/24); 0.19 adults 25-54 rating (+4% from 1/19/24; +8% from 1/12/24; +30% from 1/5/24)
- MSNBC: 1.523 million viewers (+16% from 1/19/24; +23% from 1/12/24; +29% from 1/5/24); 0.12 adults 25-54 rating (+43% from 1/19/24; +11% from 1/12/24; +40% from 1/5/24)
- CNN: 0.585 million viewers (+16% from 1/19/24; +5% from 1/12/24; +7% from 1/5/24); 0.09 adults 25-54 rating (+18% from 1/19/24; +17% from 1/12/24; +17% from 1/5/24)
Note: a 1.0 rating in the key 25-54 demographic equates to 1.22 million viewers within the age range of 25 to 54.
Source: Nielsen Media Research
