CNN Beats Hannity in Ratings Demo on Impeachment Night, Fox Wins Overall

CNN eked out a rare win over the ratings juggernaut that is Fox News’ primetime line-up on Wednesday night: CNN’s special all-hands coverage in the 9 p.m. hour drew more viewers in the key demo than Hannity.

According to Nielsen data, CNN’s 9 p.m. hour, which started with special impeachment vote coverage and later cut back to the regularly-scheduled Cuomo Primetime, drew 1.13 million viewers in the 25-54 demographic compared to Sean Hannity’s 1.09 million million viewers – scoring a rare victory for the night.

However, Hannity dominated the hour in overall audience numbers with 5 million viewers compared to CNN’s 3.06 million. Tucker Carlson’s Fox News program drew the most viewers of the night, with 5.03 million tuning in for Tucker Carlson Tonight compared to the 2.83 million who tuned in for CNN at 8 p.m.

Carlson’s hour even drew more viewers than the broadcast network NBC, which was the only broadcast network to cut in with special coverage of impeachment. It drew 4.786 million viewers overall, though it outpaced Carlson in the demo with 1.44 million viewers.

The vote to impeach President Donald Trump on two articles of impeachment passed the House late in the 8 p.m. hour while Carlson was heading up coverage.

CNN’s victory appears to be an anomaly, given that Fox’s 8 p.m. hour and 10 p.m. hour both won the demographic. Fox News’s all-day coverage of the impeachment debate and vote also trounced rivals by drawing 2.36 million viewers from 8:45 a.m. to 9 p.m. – even more than broadcast rivals ABC News (2.3 million) and CBS News (2.31 million) overall audiences.

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