U.S. TV audience for Jan. 6 hearing reaches 20 million
By Lisa Richwine
(Reuters) -An estimated 20 million individuals tuned in to reside U.S. tv broadcasts of Thursday’s listening to by lawmakers probing the 2021 riot on the U.S. Capitol, the Nielsen rankings company stated on Friday.
The viewership throughout 12 networks ranked under different political occasions equivalent to President Biden’s State of the Union handle, which pulled in 38 million viewers in March, however greater than most congressional hearings.
The primary televised listening to of the impeachment inquiry into U.S. President Donald Trump, for instance, attracted about 14 million viewers on 10 networks in 2019. It was held through the day, when TV viewership is decrease.
The committee probing the Jan. 6, 2021, assault by Trump supporters is holding uncommon primetime hearings to highlight the findings of its practically year-long investigation. Broadcasters together with ABC, CBS and NBC interrupted common programming to point out the occasion.
Nielsen’s figures included individuals who watched by way of conventional tv or streamed by means of Web-connected TVs, however they don’t seize the total extent of on-line viewing by way of social media.
The tally additionally doesn’t embody Fox Information Channel, which opted to run its common opinion programming through the listening to. Fox Enterprise Community coated the listening to reside.
Of the 20 million viewers, 15.2 million have been age 55 and older, Nielsen stated. Lower than 1 million individuals age 18 to 34 watched by way of the TV networks.
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Enhancing by Leslie Adler and David Gregorio)
