Apr 29, 2020 - Economy & Business

Cable news soars to record ratings during coronavirus pandemic

Screenshot via Fox News

The cable-news hosts Tucker Carlson, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, Chris Cuomo, Bret Baier, Nicolle Wallace, and Anderson Cooper each recorded their most-watched month ever in April, AP Media Writer David Bauder reports.

The state of play: Fox News prime time had the most viewers ever in April, MSNBC's full-day schedule had the largest audience in network history, and CNN's all-day audience was the highest since 2005, when Hurricane Katrina struck.

Nielsen numbers also show Baier's 6 p.m. ET "Special Report" on Fox was the highest-rated in cable news for the first time, primarily because it often coincided with President Trump's daily briefing.

While hosting from his Hampton basement because he had COVID-19, CNN's Cuomo beat MSNBC's Rachel Maddow among younger viewers for the first time.

During weekday prime time, Fox News averaged 4.14 million viewers, MSNBC had 2.47 million and CNN had 2.16 million.

Among the broadcast nets, ABC's "World News Tonight" topped the evening newscasts with an average of 10.2 million viewers. NBC's "Nightly News" had 9.6 million and the "CBS Evening News" had 6.7 million.

Go deeper: Digital media clobbered by coronavirus

Go deeper

Rebecca Falconer

Updated 19 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Updates: George Floyd protests continue past curfews

Police officers wearing riot gear push back demonstrators outside of the White House on Monday. Photo: Jose Luis Magana/AFP via Getty Images

Protests over the death of George Floyd and other police-related killings of black people continued Tuesday across the U.S. for the eighth consecutive day, prompting a federal response from the National Guard, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection.

The latest: Even with early curfews in New York City and Washington, D.C., protesters are still out en masse. Some protesters in D.C. said they were galvanized by President Trump's photo op in front of St. John's Church on Monday and threat to deploy U.S. troops in the rest of country if violence isn't quelled, NBC News reports.

Go deeper (3 min. read)

Alayna Treene

Updated 30 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Trump backs off push to federalize forces against riots

Photo: Brendan Smialowski /AFP via Getty Images

A day after threatening to federalize forces to snuff out riots across the country, the president appears to be backing off the idea of invoking the Insurrection Act, sources familiar with his plans tell Axios.

What we're hearing: Aides say he hasn’t ruled out its use at some point, but that he's “pleased” with the way protests were handled last night (apart from in New York City, as he indicated on Twitter today) — and that for now he's satisfied with leaving the crackdown to states through local law enforcement and the National Guard.

Go deeper (1 min. read)

Erica Pandey

34 mins ago - Economy & Business

What we expect from our bosses

Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios

Workers — especially millennials and Gen Zers — are paying close attention to the words and actions of their employers during national crises, such as the protests following the killing of George Floyd in police custody.

Why it matters: American companies have an enormous amount of wealth and influence that they can put toward effecting change, and CEOs have the potential to fill the leadership vacuum left by government inaction. More and more rank-and-file employees expect their bosses to do something with that money and power.

Go deeper (1 min. read)