Liberal Forum

New data: Fox News’ evening shows avoid live coverage of Trump’s Senate impeachment trial.

Since Tuesday, January 21, Fox has aired just 13 hours and 39 minutes of the trial.

By contrast, CNN and MSNBC have both aired the trial nearly in its entirety -- CNN has aired 24 hours and 33 minutes while MSNBC has aired 24 hours and 14 minutes.

(MSNBC’s slightly lower time total is primarily due to commentary during roll call votes, which we did not count.)



The gap in coverage among the networks -- nearly 11 fewer hours on Fox -- is almost entirely due to the network’s evening shows (5 p.m. to midnight), which largely ignored the live proceedings after Day 1.

Fox aired 3 hours and 52 minutes of the January 21 session during evening broadcasts while CNN aired 6 hours and 18 minutes and MSNBC aired 6 hours and 1 minute.

During the January 22 session, Fox aired just 15 and a half minutes of coverage during evening hours while both CNN and MSNBC aired 3 hours and 58 minutes.

During prime-time programming, Fox’s Tucker Carlson Tonight and Hannity aired a combined total of just under 2 minutes of live trial footage.

During that same time frame, CNN and MSNBC each aired 1 hour and 43 minutes.

During the Senate's January 23 session, Fox’s evening coverage aired a paltry 4 and a half minutes of the trial live while both CNN and MSNBC each aired 4 hours and 24 minutes.

Fox’s prime-time shows virtually ignored live broadcasting of the trial; between 8 and 11 p.m., the network aired a total of 22 seconds, all of which were brief transitions between regular programming and commercial breaks during Tucker Carlson Tonight.

During that same time frame, CNN and MSNBC aired approximately 2 hours and 14 minutes each.