Bret Baier anchoring Fox News coverage of the U.S. strike on Iranian nuclear facilities
Nearly five million viewers tuned in to Fox News Channel’s breaking news coverage of the American strike on Iran Saturday night, as the network easily dominated all broadcast and cable news networks in prime time. Fox News had an average total audience of 4.938 million viewers, followed by ABC (2.346 million viewers), CNN (1.809 million viewers), NBC Broadcast (1.415 million viewers), CBS (1.371 million viewers), and MSNBC (1.184 million viewers).
Among viewers 25-54, the key demographic valued by advertisers, Fox was first overall with 898,000 viewers, followed by ABC (523,000 viewers), CNN (495,000 viewers), NBC Broadcast (292,000 viewers), CBS (215,000 viewers), and MSNBC (175,000 viewers).
WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 21: U.S. President Donald Trump delivers an address to the nation from the … More
In the 10 o’clock hour, as President Trump delivered remarks from the White House, Fox News nearly tripled the audience of its closest cable news competitor, CNN, with an average audience of 5.897 million viewers. CNN had 2.218 million viewers, followed by MSNBC with 1.549 million viewers, according to ratings data compiled by Nielsen.
Fox News also delivered the largest single audience in the key demo, with a total audience of in the 10 p.m. ET hour of 1.131 million viewers, followed by CNN (655,000 viewers) and MSNBC (248,000 viewers).
FNC’s highest viewership was during the fifteen minutes of President Trump’s address (10:00 to 10:15 p.m. ET), when Fox drew a total audience of 7.5 million viewers and 1.6 million viewers in the key demo.
‘A historic night’
During Fox News coverage of the Iran strike, anchor Bret Baier described the significance of the moment to FNC’s Sean Hannity, saying “it’s a historic night.. but the Israelis are ecstatic. You saw that in the Prime Minister’s statement saying that this is a pivot point, he believes, for the Middle East.”
“I think there’s going to be a real question about what goes forward, what happens next,” Baier said. “I’ve been in contact with some of our allies, leaders in the region and other countries in the region and one said this to me: Iran will have to respond. They have to save face. Their capabilities have been degraded, but they’re not impotent. That’s important to realize that while the president is saying that this is a tremendous success and he believes they have been completely obliterated, the history will show that the Iran leadership will not go down without swinging.”
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