Former president Trump returns as a diminished TV draw
NEW YORK (AP) - Former President Donald Trump reached less than a million measurable television viewers over the weekend in his return to the public stage at a North Carolina political event.
Newsmax averaged just under 700,000 viewers between 8 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Saturday when Trump spoke, the Nielsen company said. His speech was also carried live on One America News Network and C-SPAN, but their audience is not measured by Nielsen.
Fox News Channel did not carry the speech by the former president beloved by many of its viewers. The network averaged more than 1.5 million viewers for its typical Saturday night fare of Jesse Watters and Jeanine Pirro.
Although Trump couldn't eclipse Fox's regular lineup, at least for Newsmax, showing the former president live appeared to be a good business decision for the network. So far this year, Newsmax has averaged 202,000 viewers in prime time, including the more heavily trafficked weeknights, Nielsen said.
Later on Saturday, Fox's debut hour with conservative media personality Dan Bongino reached 1.8 million people, making it the most-watched cable news show of the weekend.
The broadcast networks made a swift turn into summer, with NBC's 'œAmerica's Got Talent'ť topping the ratings upon its return. CBS led for the week, averaging 3.3 million viewers in prime time. ABC had 3.17 million, NBC had 3.16 million, Fox had 1.7 million, Univision had 1.5 million, Ion Television had 970,000 and Telemundo had 880,000.
TNT led the cable news networks, averaging 2.36 million viewers in prime time last week. Fox News Channel had 1.94 million, HGTV had 1.25 million, MSNBC had 1.23 million and TBS had 938,000.
ABC's 'œWorld News Tonight'ť led the evening news ratings race, averaging 7.3 million viewers. NBC's 'œNightly News'ť had 6.3 million, and the 'œCBS Evening News'ť had 4.7 million.
For the week of May 31 to June 6, the 20 most-watched programs in prime time, their networks and viewerships:
1. 'œAmerica's Got Talent,'ť NBC, 7.37 million.
2. 'œ60 Minutes,'ť CBS, 7.06 million.
3. 'œCelebrity Family Feud,'ť ABC, 5.74 million.
4. 'œKennedy Center Honors,'ť CBS, 5.32 million.
5. 'œStation 19,'ť ABC, 4.9 million.
6. 'œAmerica's Funniest Home Videos,'ť ABC, 4.78 million.
7. 'œGrey's Anatomy,'ť ABC, 4.76 million.
8. 'œNCIS,'ť CBS, 4.72 million.
9. NBA Playoffs: Phoenix at L.A. Lakers (Thursday), TNT, 4.53 million.
10. 'œFBI,'ť CBS, 4.27 million.
11. 'œLaw & Order: SVU,'ť NBC, 4.23 million.
12. 'œThe Chase,'ť ABC, 4.07 million.
13. 'œLaw & Order: Organized Crime,'ť NBC, 4.02 million.
14. 'œUnited States of Al,'ť CBS, 3.951 million.
15. 'œNew Amsterdam,'ť NBC, 3.947 million.
16. Soccer: EE UU vs Mexico, Univision, 3.923 million.
17. 'œYoung Sheldon,'ť CBS, 3.922 million.
18. 'œFBI: Most Wanted,'ť CBS, 3.89 million.
19. 'œThe $100,000 Pyramid,'ť ABC, 3.67 million.
20. NBA Playoffs: L.A. Clippers at Dallas (Friday), ESPN, 3.61 million.