TV Ratings: Impeachment Hearings Day 4 Down on Previous Days

By Will Thorne

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Day 4 of the impeachment hearings against President Donald Trump dipped a little in terms of viewership from the first three days.

Yesterday’s proceedings drew an average total viewership of 11.4 million, down on the 12 million average viewers who tuned in for day 3. That number accounts for the three cable news networks as well as NBC, ABC and CBS which have all been interrupting their daytime schedule to cover the hearings.

Fox News once again drew the most viewers, averaging 2.5 million viewers, followed by MSNBC with 2.4 million and CBS with 1.8 million. In terms of the key 25-54 demographic, NBC news continued its hot streak, leading the pack with 419,000 viewers. Fox News came second with 404,000, CNN third with 396,000.

Day 4 saw Ambassador Gordon Sondland testify that he pursued political investigations in Ukraine at the direction of . Sondland also testified that a White House meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky was conditioned on Ukraine’s willingness to the launch the investigations.

The all-day hearings were the first point on the agenda at last night’s Democratic debate, with Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren emphatically urging viewers to “read the Mueller report” to get the fuller picture on the President’s actions.

However, the hearings also likely meant viewers were suffering from political fatigue by the time the debate came around, having a negative impact on its ratings. The MSNBC and Washington Post co-hosted debate drew only 6.5 million total viewers, the lowest tally for any debate this cycle.