(Bloomberg) -- Fox News Channel said its first formal sit-down with Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris attracted 7.8 million viewers, the most for an interview during the 2024 political season.
The half-hour segment, which aired at 6 p.m. New York time on Wednesday, drew a bigger audience than other Harris TV appearances, including on CBS News’ 60 Minutes and on ABC’s The View, the network said.
It also beat the 3.1 million viewers who tuned in to Republican rival Donald Trump’s town hall earlier Wednesday on the Fox Corp.-owned channel. Fox News initially reported an audience for Harris of 7.1 million but updated that number and the one for the Trump town hall based on final Nielsen results.
Both candidates are on extended media tours as the nation moves closer to the Nov. 5 election. Harris’ interview with Fox News anchor Bret Baier was contentious, with the candidate and the interviewer sometimes talking over each other as they discussed issues including immigration, the economy and gender surgery for prisoners.
The September debate between Trump and Harris drew an audience of 67.1 million on 17 TV networks. Debates generally get much higher viewership because they are promoted for weeks in advance and are available on more outlets.
(Updates with final viewer numbers in first, third paragraphs.)
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