Former president Donald Trump's CNN town hall was the network's most-watched candidate event in three years.
The town hall netted 3.3 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research data. The event was the network's second most viewed town hall since it began broadcasting single-candidate interviews in 2016. A 2020 event with Joe Biden just before the presidential election barely topped the Trump event at 3.4 million.
"That figure represents more than three times the number of viewers CNN has earned during the 8 p.m. hour in recent weeks," The Hill reported. It is less than the number of people who watched Trump town halls on Fox News and other networks, however.
While the viewership numbers boosted CNN, the network's anchors aren't so happy. CNN's Oliver Darcy included a long "self-own of backlash in his Thursday morning media newsletter," the Washington Free Beacon reported.
CNN has seen its viewers drop since Trump left office, the Free Beacon reported, even as the network has booted such vehemently anti-Trump hosts as Don Lemon and Brian Stelter. Trump in 2017 predicted this media landscape, saying, "Newspapers, television, all forms of media will tank if I'm not there."