The most watched CNN broadcast in all of 2023 was a townhall with President Donald Trump.

Last night as President Trump appeared on Fox News and Ron DeSantis/Nikki Haley held a debate, the audience for Trump almost doubled the CNN audience for Haley/DeSantis.

(Via The Hill) – Fox’s town hall with Trump averaged 4.3 million viewers from 9-10 p.m., according to early data from Nielsen Media Research, while the CNN debate featuring Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley averaged 2.5 million during the same hour.

[…] Wednesday night’s ratings returns are the latest signal that live events featuring Trump remain one of the largest drivers of audience for the nation’s cable news channels, all of which are facing major headwinds in the form of increased cord-cutting and changing media habits on the part of consumers.

A town hall CNN hosted with Trump last year averaged north of 3 million viewers, the single largest ratings night for the network of 2023. (read more)