Fox News Channel’s election coverage led all networks with 13.7 million prime-time viewers on a night it riled President Donald Trump and some of his supporters with an early call from a battleground state for Democrat Joe Biden, preliminary ratings data showed.
The network owned by Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Corp , and whose commentators often promote Trump’s agenda, stood alone for three hours with its projection that Biden would win Arizona. As of Wednesday, the winner of the presidency remained undecided while vote counts continued.
Fox News was also more than five hours ahead of CNN on projecting Biden would take Virginia, and hours in front on other states. It beat the Associated Press by 90 minutes on saying Trump would win the battleground state of Florida. None of those calls have been disputed.
“Whether they were premature or right on time, the fact of the matter is that they were calling the races in the way races should be called, instead of through the lens that Trump would prefer,” said Frank Sesno, a former CNN correspondent and director of strategic initiatives at George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs. “That’s their job.”
Their approach angered some Trump backers. Jason Miller, a Trump campaign senior adviser, and Arizona Governor Doug Ducey were among those saying Fox News acted too quickly. Fox News correspondent John Roberts said on air that the Trump campaign was “livid.”
As the night unfolded, Fox News’ average audience topped rivals in prime time and into the early morning hours of Wednesday, according to early Nielsen data. From 6 p.m. to 3 a.m. EST, Fox News averaged 10.5 million viewers, compared with 6.8 million for AT&T Inc’s CNN. Its Arizona call came shortly before 11:30 p.m. EST.
Fox News already had irritated Trump and some supporters in recent months.
“The people who are watching @FoxNews, in record numbers (thank you President Trump), are angry. They want an alternative now. So do I!,” Trump tweeted in August.
Overall election night viewership appeared lower than 2016 when Trump upset Democrat Hillary Clinton. Early figures showed roughly 50 million people watched this year’s prime-time coverage across nine networks.
Final numbers are expected later on Wednesday. In 2016, 71.4 million people watched across 13 networks.
The TV ratings do not include viewership via online platforms, which have jumped in popularity.
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