Former FBI director, James Comey, teased his way across the networks and cable news shows. He had written a tell-all story about Donald Trump, and ABC’s George Stephanopoulos scored the big upcoming interview — or was it?
Comey’s first book, A Higher Loyalty, was already on the Bestseller list even before it went on sale. That meant people were interested, but something went wrong.
According to Ad Week, the Comey interview:
‘Averaged a 7.4 rating / 13 share in the Nielsen overnight ratings, or about 9.5 million viewers in the 10 p.m. hour.’
By all accounts, that was a success. Yet, it was not the show that most people were watching. Those numbers went to CBS’ ’ 60 Minutes. Ad Week indicated that this show:
‘Averaged a 7.7 rating / 13 share at 7 p.m. Following 60 Minutes, CBS broadcast the ACM Awards which averaged a 7.2 rating / 12 share. But there was a drop in audience at 10 p.m., when some viewers likely switched over to ABC to watch the Comey interview.’
People started turning in to ABC’s American Idol at 10 p.m. (EDT). In its final half hour, this show jumped from a 4.4 rating to a 7.3 rating.
Stephanopoulos’s interview will be the highest-watched ABC News program since Diane Sawyer’s interview of Caitlyn Jenner, three years ago. That drew a 17 million viewer audience.
Part of the problem may have been that ABC released a transcript just prior to the interview. Before that, people could find out how Comey felt about Trump in the news alerts.
There was an end-show bump, though. That was when the former FBI director said:
‘(Donald Trump is) morally unfit to be president.’
Featured Image via ABC GMA News Screen Grab.
