Coverage of the release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report into whether President Donald Trump committed obstruction of justice unsurprisingly caused a ratings bump across TV news yesterday.
In terms of overall viewership, around 11 million people tuned in to see Attorney General William Barr’s news conference regarding the report’s release, and the news coverage surrounding it.
According to early Nielsen data, Fox News garnered the highest total viewership at around 2.8 million, with 441,000 viewers falling in the 25-54 demographic.The ratings were taken from 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m. ET.
MSNBC was second among the cable news networks with just over 2 million total viewers and 307,000 in the same demo. CNN came in third with a tick over 1 million viewers and 286,000 in 25-54.
As for the broadcast networks, CBS, which cut off its Mueller coverage at 12 p.m., led in total viewership with 2,535,000, however, ABC came out on top in the 25-54 demo with 493,000 viewers to the Eye’s 471,000. NBC’s ratings were not available at time of publishing.
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In the report, Mueller examined 10 incidents of possible obstruction of justice, but he and his team did not “draw ultimate conclusions about the president’s conduct.”
Mueller’s findings also shed light on the extent to which Trump was rattled by Mueller’s appointment and his investigation. “Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my presidency. I’m f—ed,” Trump said, according to notes taken by Jody Hunt, who was then-attorney general Jeff Sessions’ chief of staff.