All in all, CNN viewers would rather watch Don Lemon than Beto O’Rourke. The network’s hour-long town hall with the Texas congressman and Democratic presidential candidate drifted to a distant third-place finish in Tuesday night’s cable news ratings–and was down significantly from the network’s average Tuesday night ratings delivery.
According to ratings data compiled by Nielsen, the O’Rourke town hall delivered a total audience of 714,000 viewers, while MSNBC and Fox News Channel both exceeded two million viewers in the same time period: 2.196 million for MSNBC and 2.260 million for top-rated Fox News.
CNN’s ratings delivery was down nearly 30% compared to its average Tuesday night, which over the last few months has typically reached more than one million viewers. O’Rourke even failed to exceed the audience that watched a CNN town hall featuring third-tier candidate John Hickenlooper, which drew 745,000 viewers in March. The lowest-rated town hall so far this cycle was CNN’s event with Julian Castro, which reached just 654,000 viewers in April.
Walz Rages That ICE Won’t Share Shooting Evidence With Sanctuary City Minneapolis – Which Outright Refuses to Cooperate With ICE
House Republicans defend ICE agent in fatal shooting, say use of force was justified
California leads multistate lawsuit against Trump over child care funding freeze
Obama Presidential Center job listings push ‘anti-racism’ pledge ahead of opening
Breaking Footage: US Forces Execute Lightning-Quick Seizure of Fully-Loaded Venezuelan Oil Tanker
Trump Admin Considers Sending Large Payments to Every Greenland Resident in Bid to Acquire the Island: Report
First Hilton, Then Marriot, Now McDonald’s: Companies Rush to Embrace ICE as Conservative Pressure Campaign Crushes Woke Workers
‘Tip of the iceberg’: Senate Republicans press Gov Walz over Minnesota fraud scandal
Democratic socialist Mamdani ally mounts bid for US House of Representatives
Ohio dentist murders: Alley video, no forced entry fuel insider fears, experts say
Renee Nicole Good part of ‘ICE Watch’ group, DHS sources say
Five Republicans Break Ranks With Trump on Venezuela, Cripple His Ability to Use Military in Country Again
Fiery But Mostly Peaceful Rhetoric: Huge NYC Crowd Chants That They’ll Kill Noem, ICE Agents
Minnesota ICE shooting ignites debate over federal officer immunity
Watchdog exposes taxpayer-funded teacher program for banning White applicants: ‘Likely illegal’
Among viewers 25-54, the demographic group most valued by national advertisers, CNN’s O’Rourke town hall had 194,000 viewers, down 38% from its average Tuesday night delivery of 313,000. In the demo, Fox News finished first with 362,000 viewers, followed by MSNBC (315,000).
The poor ratings will raise questions about O’Rourke’s ability to generate buzz in a crowded field, but also about the debate among Democrats over the wisdom of going where the viewers are and appearing on Fox News. Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren recently announced she would not accept an offer to appear in a Fox town hall, while candidates like Bernie Sanders, Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg have reached large audiences on FNC. Sanders’ Fox town hall remains the highest-rated town hall this cycle, with a total audience of 2.554 million viewers.
