CNN’s exclusive interview with US Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, the Democratic candidates for the 2024 elections, drew 6.3 million viewers on Thursday evening, according to Nielsen. hour in recent history.
The interview, moderated by Dana Bash, also attracted an average of 1.2 million viewers between the ages of 25 and 54, the demographic most favored by advertisers on news programs.
The big ‘get’ marked the second of the summer for CNN, which has struggled to match the ratings of its two main competitors, Fox News Channel and MSNBC, while under the auspices of its parent company. CNN also broadcast a pivotal debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump that ultimately appeared to undermine confidence in Biden’s ability to lead the nation.
CNN’s interview drew more viewers (6.305 million on average) in the 9 p.m. hour than Fox News, which averaged 2.65 million viewers, or MSNBC, which averaged 1.367 million viewers.
During the interview, Bash quizzed Harris and Walz about what their agenda would be on their first day on the job, and Harris tried to get a better sense of why she seemed to moderate some of her views on topics like border control in recent weeks. . Harris surprised some viewers by choosing not to respond to a question about Trump’s attempts to use topics related to race and gender. “Next question please,” Harris said.
CNN raised some eyebrows by airing an image during the interview stating that the conversation was taking place in real time. The interview was even recorded and only Bash’s intros and outros from various segments appeared to be broadcast live.
And the viewing figures spike proved unsustainable for the rest of the evening. CNN’s 10 p.m. hour was no better than Fox News’ broadcast at that hour of “Gutfeld!”