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.
Democrat officials charged for allegedly scamming COVID relief funds
Trump scores federal court win against House progressive accused of assaulting ICE
Dem Candidate, Music Superstar With Sick Sexual History Defended Fellow Musician’s Video In Which He Gropes and Kills Woman
Breaking: ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’ Star Tim Curry Dies at 80
Netanyahu claims his son was targeted for assassination by Iran
Felony charges against Golden Gate Bridge protesters dropped
How JD Vance worked a private channel with his fantasy football buddy to try to secure a Canada trade deal
Army vet lawmaker marks Abbey Gate anniversary with blistering message for Biden-Harris: ‘Abject failure’
SEE IT: LA Dem candidates torched by disgusted residents after ‘disgraceful’ debate: ‘Both bad’
Rutgers research dean accused of secretly recording ‘upskirt’ videos with cellphone, prosecutors say
Trump’s $100k Visa Application Fee Plan Is Back and This Time Dems Will Have a Harder Time Stopping It
Trump-Endorsed Mazzei Wins Tight GOP Gubernatorial Primary in Oklahoma
Montana man who killed 4 children, 4 other family members at Sunday dinner was asked to move out: relative
US kills 4 alleged drug smugglers on boat in Caribbean, bringing total to 227 in 68 strikes
California Dems trigger outrage after siding with convicted child sex offenders in shocking vote
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.
