US presidential-hopeful Kamala Harris' CNN townhall creates massive record
What's the story
Indian-origin presidential hopeful Kamala Harris' town hall on CNN with an average of 1.957 million viewers got the network its highest ratings ever for such an event with an individual election candidate, according to the network. Harris, 54, has been voted on top of the list of Democratic leaders aspiring to defeat President Donald Trump in the November 2020 election. Here's more on this.
Information
Harris is often compared to Barack Obama due to similarities
Harris, who was elected to the Senate in 2016, announced her presidency run last week. The second African-American woman elected to the US senate, Harris has drawn comparisons to Barack Obama since early in her political career, since both are Democrats, and have a law-background.
Viewership
Monday's event averaged 1.957mn viewers, against CNN's average 1.119mn
CNN announced yesterday that the broadcast was the most-watched cable news single candidate election town hall, Nielsen data says. The live event on Monday averaged 1.957 million viewers, a figure far greater than CNN's previous four town halls, which attracted an average audience of 1.119 million each. CNN Town Hall with Harris was the most watched cable news single candidate election town hall ever.
Interview
In the townhall, Harris reflected on her various policy issues
The event averaged 712,000 among adults of 25-54 years from 10-11pm, easily topping all cable news competition. CNN was also No.1 in prime-time in the demos, it said. In the townhall, Harris reflected on her various policy issues, responding to questions from audience. Moderated by CNN anchor Jake Tapper, Harris' event propelled CNN to 945,000 total day live starts across digital platforms on Monday.
Details
Harris held highly-publicized rally recently to officially announce her bid
The California Senator is hoping to capitalize on high early fundraising numbers and enthusiasm from the base before the Democratic primary field. It was reported last week that the Harris campaign raised more than $1.5 million in online donations in the 24-hours since she announced her candidacy for president. She also held a highly publicized rally Sunday to officially kick off her presidential bid.