WASHINGTON — Nearly 18 million people watched the final congressional hearing into the Jan. 6. attack on the U.S. Capitol, according to Nielsen data.
The strong viewership underscores how the House committee investigating the riot managed to keep much of its audience despite drawing out the hearings over eight days spanning six weeks.
In Thursday’s session, President Donald Trump was depicted as urging his followers to the Capitol and then spending more than three hours watching the attack on TV from the White House while aides, lawmakers and family members urged him to call off the mob.
The eight hearings averaged 13 million viewers. The first one, which also occurred in prime time, drew about 20 million viewers. The Nielsen data only include the audience on TV. Total viewership would be higher when factoring in people who watched the sessions online.
Nearly all the major news channels preempted regular prime-time programming to air Thursday’s hearing. Like the first session, Fox Corp. chose to air the event on its less-popular Fox Business channel, while Fox News stuck with its regular prime-time lineup of opinion hosts like Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham and Sean Hannity.
