A special White House press conference in prime time on Feb. 8 was held in response to the recently reported findings by special counsel Robert Hur, which led to increased cable news viewing, especially for MSNBC’s Chris Hayes.
Hur — a U.S. attorney originally appointed during the Trump administration — concluded from his investigation of Biden’s handling of classified documents that the President shouldn’t face criminal charges but added the 81-year-old Biden was old and had trouble remembering dates, even the date his son Beau died.
A visibly angry President Biden proclaimed his memory as “fine” during the presser. As for his son Beau’s 2015 death from brain cancer, “Frankly, when I was asked the question, I thought to myself, it wasn’t any of their damn business,” Biden said.
Later, while discussing the humanitarian situation in Gaza amidst the Israel-Hamss war, Biden mistakenly referred to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as the “president of Mexico” — a gaffe that has gotten major coverage especially on the right-wing leaning outlets.
ABC, the lone broadcast network to televise Biden’s Feb. 8 press conference, was the presser’s most-watched outlet. From 7:57-8:14 p.m. ET, it drew 4.509 million total viewers and delivered a 0.65 rating within the key 25-54 demographic, according to Nielsen Media Research. (Note: a 1.0 rating in the 25-54 equates to 1.22 million viewers within the age range of 25 to 54, meaning approximately 793,000 in the demo on ABC.)
The press conference was not tabulated as a separate telecast by Nielsen on cable, but it was still evident that each of the three major cable news outlets got a sizable boost from the event. The 8-9 p.m. hour on Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN on Feb. 8 combined for 6.88 million viewers and a 0.76 rating in adults 25-54. In the same Thursday night hour from Jan. 4 through Feb. 1, the three cable nets posted 4.92 million viewers including a 0.45 25-54 demo rating.
Fox News’ Jesse Watters Primetime (3.805 million viewers; 0.37 A25-54 rating) made up the largest bulk of that combo; the program had averaged 2.424 million viewers and 0.22 demo rating on Thursday nights in 2024 through Feb. 1.
MSNBC’s All In with Chris Hayes (2.102 million viewers; 0.20 A25-54 rating) garnered the largest respective percentage increases compared to its previous five Thursdays — up 46 percent in viewers, up 84 percent in 25-54.
CNN‘s Anderson Cooper 360 rose 29 percent in total viewers (to 969,000) and 51 percent among adults 25-54 (to a 0.19 rating).
Source: Nielsen Media Research
