Fox News coverage of the vice presidential debate between incumbent Vice President Mike Pence and Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris attracted 11.9 million viewers, setting a record for the highest-rated vice presidential debate in cable news history according to audience data numbers from Nielsen Media Research.
The ratings are an 85% rise compared to coverage of the 2016 vice presidential debate.
The mammoth audience also was the most-watched debate coverage in the entire television realm, besting broadcast networks ABC, NBC, CBS and all rival cable news networks, including CNN and MSNBC.
Prior to the the main debate coverage, “Tucker Carlson Tonight” garnered 6.2 million viewers. After the debate event, a special edition of “Hannity” delivered 5.1 million viewers while a special edition of “The Ingraham Angle” drew 3 million.
Things were also very busy online for Fox.
“Fox News Digital experienced a record night of vice presidential debate engagement across all key performance indicators, notching triple digit increases in every category,” the network said in a statement.
“Compared to the vice presidential debate in 2016, unique devices increased by 143%, video starts saw a 145%rise, and page views were up 111%, according to Adobe Analytics and Apple News. Time spent in minutes was up 114% more than double the vice presidential debate last cycle,” Fox News noted.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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