Fox News’ Sean Hannity netted his highest-rated broadcast ever when he spoke to President Donald Trump ahead of Sunday’s Super Bowl, which aired on Fox networks this year.
According to early Nielsen data, the one-on-one interview during Super Bowl LIV’s preshow brought in 10.3 million viewers. Of those 10.3 million, 4.2 million viewers were in the advertiser-coveted 25-54 age demographic and 3.3 million were in the 18-49 demo.
In 2019, CBS News’ Margaret Brennan interviewed Trump in that same 3:30 p.m. ET slot, bringing in a little over 8 million viewers ahead of that network’s broadcast of the NFL championship game. Of those viewers last year, 3.2 million were in the key 25-54 demo and 2.8 million were between 18-49.
Super Bowl LIV itself drew 102 million viewers on Sunday, according to Nielsen, which counted Fox broadcasting and Fox Deportes as well as Fox’s, the NFL’s and Verizon’s digital properties. Fox’s broadcast channel racked up 99.9 million of the 102 million total average viewers, while Spanish-language sports channel Fox Deportes brought in another 757,000 viewers.
Super Bowl LIV had a 41.6 household rating, and was watched in an average of 50.2 million homes. That’s 69% of the homes that had televisions in use at the time.
Fox beat CBS in Super Bowl ratings as well as preshow presidential interview ratings, too. Sunday’s all-in audience was about 1.3% higher than 2019’s comparable number, when the big game aired on CBS’s network.