The James Comey sweepstakes paid off for broadcasters.
A whopping 29.5 million viewers across the three big broadcast networks, three major cable channels and Facebook Live, tuned in to watch former FBI director Comey testify to Congress about Russian meddling in the election and his sour relationship with President Trump.
More than 18 million watched on TV, according to Nielsen.
Of the three big broadcast networks ABC’s coverage drew the most viewers (3.295 million) followed by CBS (3.286 million). NBC drew 2.723 million and joined its two rivals airing commercial-free coverage of the nearly 3-hour testimony.
With viewers ages 25-54 — those coveted by advertising executives — NBC attracted the most: 859,000. On cable, CNN won with the same audience, pulling in about 1 million.
Of the three cable news networks, Fox News Channel drew the most viewers, about 3.096 million, beating out NBC. It also edged out rival CNN, by just a hair (3.049 million) and handily beat MSNBC’s audience of 2.719 million viewers.
Comey’s testimony was also carried on hundreds of Web sites and tabulating a total audience will take time, experts said.
But the event was seen by nearly 11.5 million viewers on Facebook live across 32 channels ranging from Politico, to Vice News and Buzzfeed News.
Of those, the BBC drew about 793,000 views, followed closely by Washington Post Politics (728,531) and a page belonging to Senator Elizabeth Warren, according to Delmondo, a media company that monitors Facebook Live traffic.