GOP Town Hall Draws 3.3 Million on CNN

The presidential race continues to drive massive ratings on cable news, with CNN’s GOP Town Hall confab averaging 3.263 million total viewers. Anderson Cooper hosted the Milwaukee town hall, which saw Ted Cruz, Donald Trump and John Kasich do battle.

Close to 1.1 million viewers 25-54 tuned in.

The salon occurred a week before Wisconsin’s primary, as Trump was prompted to defend his campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, who was arrested for simple battery after allegedly grabbing a reporter.

Amidst discussing the issues, Cruz lambasted Trump for threatening on Twitter to “spill the beans” regarding Cruz’s wife.

Trump said he no longer vowed to support the Republican nominee if it is someone other than him, despite a GOP loyalty pledge that all Republican candidates signed last year.

Cruz and Kasich also expressed reservations about supporting the eventual nominee, but did not go so far as to back off on their pledge.

Ratings for the political proceedings have been sizzling. Close to 12 million viewers watched the GOP primary debate on CNN March 10, a week after 16.9 million watched the GOP leaders on Fox News Channel.

Fox News Channel’s Democratic Town Hall delivered 2.6 million viewers in the 6 p.m. hour March 7, including 473,000 in the key demo.

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.