Fox News and MSNBC both had significantly larger audiences for their regular programming in comparison to CNN’s special LGBT town hall.
CNN’s town hall, which was in conjunction with the Human Rights Campaign, featured nine Democratic presidential candidates, who each got a half-hour slot to answer questions from the audience about their plans to address issues facing gay and transgender Americans on Thursday night.
Fox News’ prime-time lineup had an average of 3.7 million viewers from 7:30 p.m. to midnight, while the town hall was airing, according to Early Nielsen Research. The largest audience of any show Thursday night went to the time slot usually occupied by Sean Hannity, who hosts the most-watched cable news program, with 4.8 million viewers.
Hannity, however, was not on the show, as the network opted to air President Trump’s rally from Minneapolis, Minnesota. The rally began at the end of Tucker Carlson’s show and ran the entirety of Hannity’s and into the beginning of Laura Ingraham’s program.
Comparatively, MSNBC averaged 2.5 million viewers during the same time period. Rachel Maddow, who regularly finishes second to Hannity in ratings, led her network but finished behind Fox’s Jason Chaffetz who was filling in for Ingraham with 3.4 million viewers.
The town hall itself averaged slightly less than 1.1 million viewers. Their most-watched hour fell in line with Hannity and Maddow, the 9 p.m. time slot. Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Kamala Harris of California spoke during the most-watched hour of CNN’s event.
