6 million watched New Hampshire primary across cable news

Some 6 million people watched coverage of Tuesday night’s New Hampshire primary on linear cable channels, as former President Trump emerged as the winner and solidified his status as the favorite to win the Republican nomination for president this summer.

Fox News was the top-watched channel during coverage of the primary Tuesday night, netting 3.2 million viewers from 8 to 11 p.m., including 453,000 in the advertiser-coveted 25-54 age demographic, according to Nielsen Media Research data. The network peaked at 4 million viewers during the 8 p.m. hour when the Republican primary was called for Trump. MSNBC earned 1.7 million viewers, while CNN brought in 994,000 from 8 to 11 p.m.

The total number of viewers for the New Hampshire primary was slightly higher than that of last week’s Iowa caucuses, which Trump also won.

NBC News touted the performance of its election coverage on its streaming news service, “NBC News NOW,” noting it saw a 58 percent bump in concurrent viewers over the average, peaking in the 8 p.m. hour when it reached 84 percent versus average. The network did not provide specific numbers.

Cable news network NewsNation, meanwhile, was the first among cable news channels to call the primary for Trump on Tuesday night, making the race call in conjunction with Decision Desk HQ at 8:01 p.m.

After the race had been called, and as Trump was giving a victory speech from New Hampshire, both CNN and MSNBC cut away from the former president’s speech to offer fact checks of false or misleading statements he was making.

Fox aired Trump’s remarks in full.

Updated: 7:04 p.m.

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