Al Smith Dinner Draws Strong Viewership



A day after the third presidential debate, viewers were looking for more of the two presidential nominees together in person. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump both appeared at the annual Al Smith Dinner, a fundraiser for Catholic children’s charities.

CNN and MSNBC both broadcast the event until its conclusion while Fox News dropped out a few minutes early.

CNN won the 9 PM hour with 3.85 million total viewers and won the 25-54 demo with 1.34 million viewers. Anderson Cooper anchored coverage and there was a panel to opine on the festivities.

Fox News’s 9 PM hour featured the dinner and the Kelly File which had a panel and an interview with interim Democratic National Committee chair Donna Brazile. Fox News boasted 3.6 million total viewers, but only 781,000 in the demo.

On MSNBC, Rachel Maddie hosted coverage of the dinner. MSNBC was in third in both categories with 2.87 million viewers and 652,000 in the demo.

Thursday was an unusually strong day for CNN in the demo. Every CNN show from 4 PM until midnight won the demo.


About Tyler

Tyler is the chief media reporter for TKNN, with the news organization since its founding in November of 2010. He has previously served as chief political reporter and chief political anchor for TKNN.

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