Fox News Channel’s town hall with former President Trump averaged 4.3 million total viewers on Wednesday night, crushing viewership of a CNN debate between former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
Trump’s town hall, co-moderated by Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, topped CNN’s GOP primary debate by 68% and was the most-watched program on linear television from 9-10 p.m. ET.
CNN’s debate averaged 2.5 million viewers from 9-11 p.m. ET, a smaller audience than Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity received in November when he moderated the historic debate between DeSantis and Democrat California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The Haley-DeSantis showdown was CNN’s lowest-rated debate since the 2016 election cycle.
Fox News also crushed CNN in the demographic most coveted by advertisers, as the Trump town hall averaged 553,000 adults age 25-54 while the CNN debate averaged 479,000 viewers in the critical category.
During the town hall, Trump signaled that he has already decided who he will choose to be his running mate in 2024.
"I can't tell you that, really, I mean, I know who it's going to be," Trump said when he was asked who his running mate will be in 2024.
"We'll do another show sometime," Trump said when pushed by MacCallum to "give us a hint."
TRUMP TAKES NO CHANCES AS IOWA'S REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CAUCUSES APPROACH
Trump’s town hall wasn’t the only dominant performance for Fox News this week, as the network also held town hall events with Haley and DeSantis. Baier, the "Special Report" chief political anchor, and MacCallum, executive editor and anchor of "The Story," co-moderated all three Fox News town hall events.
On Monday, Fox News’ town hall with Haley averaged 2.2 million total viewers from 6-7 p.m. ET while CNN managed an average audience of only 687,000 in the same timeslot.
The following night, Fox News’ town hall with DeSantis also averaged 2.2 million total viewers from 6-7 p.m. ET compared to 705,000 viewers that CNN attracted during the same time.
MORE THAN 5 MILLION VIEWERS TUNED IN TO FOX NEWS' GROUNDBREAKING DESANTIS-NEWSOM DEBATE
Combined, the three Fox News town halls co-moderated by Baier and MacCallum averaged nearly nine million viewers over three nights ahead of the Iowa Caucuses.
Baier and MacCallum also co-moderated the first Republican presidential primary debate in Milwaukee last year, which averaged 13 million viewers – a staggering 10 million more than CNN managed on Wednesday -- and is the most-watched debate of the 2024 cycle to date.
Baier and MacCallum will co-host "Democracy 2024: Iowa Caucuses" coverage on Monday on Fox News Channel.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Data courtesy of early Nielsen Media Research.
