CNN’s debate telecast between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump drew big audiences for the cable news networks last week.
Fox News was the most-watched cable network for the week of June 24-30, averaging 2.9 million viewers — its highest audience since the 2022 midterm elections, according to Nielsen numbers provided by Fox News. CNN (1.3 million viewers) and MSNBC (1.2 million viewers) finished second and third for the week, respectively.
All three news networks benefited from the June 27 CNN-produced debate, which was simulcast by several networks and streaming services. CNN drew 9.5 million viewers, while Fox News averaged 9.2 million viewers and MSNBC garnered 4.1 million viewers from 9 p.m. to 10:39 p.m., according to Nielsen numbers supplied by Fox News.
ESPN was fourth for the week with 1.1 million viewers, followed by USA Network’s 789,000 viewers and HGTV’s 710,000 watchers. FS1 (676,000 viewers), INSP (612,000), Hallmark Channel (589,000) and TBS (581,000) rounded out the top 10 most-watched networks for the week.
Fox News blew away the competition on the total day chart, averaging 1.5 million viewers to MSNBC’s 769,000 viewers, CNN’s 565,000, ESPN’s 485,000 and HGTV’s 402,000, according to Nielsen.
