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    Viewers turn to CNN for Capitol attack coverage: Nielsen week in review

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments1442 Views
    Violent protesters gather outside the U.S. Capitol, Wednesday, Jan 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

    By David Bauder, Media Writer

    NEW YORK (AP) --

    The attack on the U.S. Capitol last week brought more viewers to CNN than any other single day in the network's 40-year history.

    CNN averaged 5.2 million viewers last Wednesday, eclipsing its previous high of 5.1 million on Election Day 2016, the Nielsen company said. The network had 4.47 million viewers on Sept. 11, 2001, Nielsen said.

    During the storming of the Capitol itself on Wednesday afternoon, CNN averaged nearly 9 million viewers. CNN also led all of the cable news and broadcast networks during primetime that evening, when Nielsen estimated more than 33 million people tuned in to watch Congress go back into session to certify President-elect Joe Biden's victory.

    MSNBC averaged 4 million viewers on Wednesday and Fox News Channel had 3 million.

    NBC, led by a strong NFL playoff game Sunday night between the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers, was the top broadcast network last week, averaging 8.6 million viewers in primetime. CBS had 5.7 million, ABC had 3.8 million, Fox had 2.5 million, Univision had 1.4 million, Ion Television had 1.1 million and Telemundo had 920,000.

    CNN averaged 4.11 million viewers in primetime, beating all the cable networks. MSNBC had 3.67 million, Fox News Channel had 3.1 million, HGTV had 1.12 million and Hallmark had 1.05 million.

    ABC's "World News Tonight" led the evening news ratings race, averaging 9.2 million viewers. NBC's "Nightly News" had 7.9 million and the "CBS Evening News" had 5.8 million.

    For the week, the 20 most-watched programs in primetime, their networks and viewership:

    1. NFL Football: Cleveland at Pittsburgh, NBC, 24.78 million.
    2. "NFL Postgame" (Sunday), CBS, 19.33 million.
    3. "NFL Pregame," NBC, 16.01 million.
    4. "NFL Postgame" (Saturday, 8:13-8:19 p.m.), Fox, 14.91 million.
    5. "60 Minutes," CBS, 14.8 million.
    6. "NFL Postgame" (Saturday, 8:19-8:25 p.m.), Fox, 9.47 million.
    7. "Anderson Cooper 360" (Wednesday), CNN, 8.87 million.
    8. "Cuomo Prime Time" (Wednesday), CNN, 8.79 million.
    9. "Capitol Attack" (Wednesday, 8:06 p.m.), MSNBC, 8.49 million.
    10. "Celebrity Wheel of Fortune," ABC, 8.15 million.
    11. "CNN Tonight" (Wednesday), CNN, 7.8 million.
    12. "The Rachel Maddow Show" (Wednesday), MSNBC, 7.77 million.
    13. "Last Word" (Wednesday), MSNBC, 6.79 million.
    14. "Blue Bloods," CBS, 6.56 million.
    15. "The Chase," ABC, 6.49 million.
    16. "The Neighborhood," CBS, 6.21 million.
    17. "Tucker Carlson Tonight" (Wednesday), Fox News Channel, 6 million.
    18. "NCIS: Los Angeles," CBS, 5.89 million.
    19. "Magnum, P.I., CBS, 5.87 million.
    20. "Anderson Cooper 360" (Thursday), CNN, 5.8 million.

    Tags:CNNMSNBCNFLNielsen



    Ex-OpenAI engineer who raised legal concerns about the technology he helped build has died

    Saturday, December 21, 2024
    Suchir Balaji poses for a photo in Hawaii in 2018. Balaji was a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who died in November 2024. (Balaji Ramamurthy via AP)

    Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who helped train the artificial intelligence systems behind ChatGPT and later said he believed those practices violated copyright law, has died, according to his parents and San Francisco officials. He was 26.

    Balaji worked at OpenAI for nearly four years before quitting in August. He was well-regarded by colleagues at the San Francisco company, where a co-founder this week called him one of OpenAI's strongest contributors who was essential to developing some of its products.

    "We are devastated to learn of this incredibly sad news and our hearts go out to Suchir's loved ones during this difficult time," said a statement from OpenAI.

    Balaji was found dead in his San Francisco apartment on Nov. 26 in what police said "appeared to be a suicide. No evidence of foul play was found during the initial investigation." The city's chief medical examiner's office confirmed the manner of death to be suicide.

    His parents Poornima Ramarao and Balaji Ramamurthy said they are still seeking answers, describing their son as a "happy, smart and brave young man" who loved to hike and recently returned from a trip with friends.

    Balaji grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and first arrived at the fledgling AI research lab for a 2018 summer internship while studying computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. He returned a few years later to work at OpenAI, where one of his first projects, called WebGPT, helped pave the way for ChatGPT.

    "Suchir's contributions to this project were essential, and it wouldn't have succeeded without him," said OpenAI co-founder John Schulman in a social media post memorializing Balaji. Schulman, who recruited Balaji to his team, said what... Read More

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