Fox News prime-time hosts Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, and Laura Ingraham all broke their shows’ respective records for average audience size last week as President Trump’s impeachment trial came to a close.
Hannity, whose show is regularly the most watched program on cable news, averaged 4.9 million total viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research. Carlson was not far behind his network colleague with an average of 4.7 million viewers last week, and Ingraham followed, likewise eclipsing the 4 million benchmark.
The three prime-time hosts collectively averaged an audience of 4.4 million viewers, which blew away the other cable news outlets. MSNBC, whose prime-time lineup features Chris Hayes, Rachel Maddow, and Lawrence O’Donnell, averaged 1.6 million viewers, a slight uptick from the week before.
Comparatively, CNN, whose prime-time hosts include Anderson Cooper, Chris Cuomo, and Don Lemon, came in third with an average audience of 1.2 million people. The network hosted eight town halls with presidential candidates during prime-time last Wednesday and Thursday. The events took place in New Hampshire ahead of the state’s Tuesday primary.
Last week, each outlet took on the Iowa caucuses and their ensuing debacle, Trump’s State of the Union address, his acquittal by the Senate, and a Democratic presidential debate.
