The Democrat National Committee (DNC) recently banned Fox News from hosting Democrat primary debates, but that won’t stop candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders from appearing on the network.
Fox News announced the network will host a town hall with the self-proclaimed socialist on April 15 (tax day).
The ban by the DNC did not include individual candidates from appearing on the network.
Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, two of the most respected news people in the business, will co-anchor the town hall.
This is a smart move by Sanders. Venturing into enemy territory carries risks, but it provides him an opportunity to expand his audience and reach more people.
That’s not the only reason. It’s smart to include Fox News because the ratings for the station remains on top. On Monday, March 18, MSNBC hosted a town hall for candidate Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand while CNN hosted one for candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Ratings showed that Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity beat out both town halls that night. From The Daily Caller:
Carlson more than doubled the MSNBC town hall with Gillibrand, both in total viewers with approximately 3.1 million viewers tuning in, and with 570,000 in the key 25-54 age demographic, according to Nielsen Media Research. Gillibrand’s town hall, by comparison, garnered only 1.2 million viewers and 224,000 in the key age range.Then, at 9 p.m. EST, CNN hosted a town hall with Warren in Mississippi, which was moderated by Jake Tapper. Warren’s town hall drew even fewer viewers than her presidential opponent, with only 1.09 million viewers watching. CNN and Warren did manage to barely beat out MSNBC and Gillibrand in the target audience, with 273,000 people aged 25-54 tuning in.Like Carlson, Hannity’s show on Monday night more than doubled Warren in total audience, with 2.9 million viewers and 494,000 in the 25-54 target audience.
The first quarter ratings show Fox News at number one again, even though MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow barely topped Hannity in the 25-54 demo. From Deadline:
In the vital and extremely competitive primetime hours, Fox had 2.4 million sets of eyeballs watching and 421,000 in the news demo to MSNC’s 1.9 million and 333, 000 and CNN’s 1.05 million and 308,000 among the 25-54s. In a lineup of Laura Ingraham, first time March topper Tucker Carlson, and Hannity, that’s actually an indifferent 1% dip from the same quarter last year in total viewers and a 15% decline in the demo. WarnerMedia-owned CNN and Comcast-owned MSNBC were up 7% and 3% respectively in their primetime overall numbers and down 10% and a hard 18% in the news demo.In that total viewer slot, Hannity was number one in the quarter with 3.12 million watching to Maddow’s 3.05 million. With the rest of the top five most watched and highest rated cable news show for the quarter belonging to FNC, not a single CNN program made that top tier cut. Slightly less impressive that than 69 quarters in a row most watched award, FNC is now the highest rated cable newser among the 25-54s for the 44th consecutive quarter.Overall, Fox News averaged 1.4 million total viewers and 252,000 in the demo over total day. The Murdochs got some other quarterly good news today in the news department with Fox Business Network scoring its 10th consecutive most watched win over once unbeatable CNBC. To get into the numbers, FBN had 189,000 viewers during the business day to CNBC’s 184,000 – a 3% advantage. Among the 25-54 demo of eager investors and others, CNBC was in first place with 34,000 to FBN’s 20,000 during the hours the U.S. markets are open.
Sanders went to a Fox News town hall in 2016 with his primary opponent Hillary Clinton. That town hall drew in 2.6 million viewers, which beat out CNN and MSNBC. The network ran the town hall again at 11PM ET and 1.6 million people watched that.
In total, 3.7 million people watched it with 873,000 in the 25-54 demo.
I bet this town hall will crush CNN and MSNBC in the ratings. Sanders is at the top of the polls along with Vice President Joe Biden. He has also dominated his opponents in fundraising. His campaign has raised $18 million in 41 days.
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