Featured Coverage of Trump Rally Shooting and Biden’s Oval Office Address
The attempted assassination of former president Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday led to a surge in TV news viewership. Millions of viewers tuned in to watch coverage of the shooting, which resulted in one fatality and three injuries, including Trump himself.
According to early Nielsen figures, a combined 16.07 million people watched coverage of the shooting on ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC. The viewership peaked in the 8 p.m. ET hour with almost 19 million people tuning in across those five outlets.
Fox News emerged as the most-watched outlet during the coverage, with an average of 6.49 million viewers in primetime on Saturday. This was well ahead of ABC, which drew 3.08 million viewers, and CBS, which had 2.69 million viewers. CNN and MSNBC also saw a significant increase in viewership compared to their usual numbers.
The following evening, President Joe Biden’s Oval Office address drew 18.78 million viewers across seven channels, with Fox News once again leading in viewership. The coverage of Biden’s speech saw Fox News bringing in 5.38 million viewers for the 8 p.m. ET hour.
Overall, the events surrounding the attempted assassination of Trump and Biden’s subsequent address captivated audiences and led to a significant increase in TV news viewership across major networks.
