Buttigieg Fox News town hall attracts 1.1 million viewers

Fox News’s town hall with Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg was watched by 1.1 million total viewers on Sunday night, according to Nielsen Media Research.

The event, co-moderated by “Fox News Sunday” anchor Chris Wallace, also delivered 172,000 viewers in the key 25- to 54-year-old demographic that advertisers covet most.

The audience in total viewers was a 22 percent increase when compared with the 2019 average of regular programming in the 7 p.m. time slot in which the Buttigieg town hall aired.

{mosads}The numbers of total viewers and younger demographic categories placed Fox News at the top of the cable news ratings race during the hour the event aired from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

MSNBC was second during the same hour with 621,000 total viewers, while CNN was third in the cable news race with 447,000. CNN did beat MSNBC in the key demographic, however, 96,000 to 77,000.

Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Ind., has risen in recent polls, though he is still well behind former Vice President Joe Biden, the current front-runner in the race for the Democratic nomination.

The 37-year-old is the third Democratic presidential candidate to appear on Fox News in a town hall format.

Last month, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was featured in a live event from Bethlehem, Pa., that drew nearly 2.6 million viewers, making it the most-watched town hall of the year. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) appeared at a network town hall earlier this month, attracting 1.6 million viewers.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) will appear in a Fox News town hall on June 2.

The events come after the Democratic National Committee (DNC) announced in March the party is barring Fox News from hosting Democratic presidential primary debates over the network’s reported close ties with the Trump administration.

DNC Chairman Tom Perez said in April that the party is not reconsidering its decision.