美国国家公共电台 NPR--Analyzing the television ratings for the first hearing on the Jan. 6 insurrection

Analyzing¹ the television ratings for the first hearing on the Jan. 6 insurrection

Transcript²

The audience watching the first prime-time hearing of the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was larger than expected. About 20 million people tuned³ in.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

The House committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol is back with another hearing this morning. Key witness Bill Stepien was the campaign manager for former President Trump⁴. He was supposed to appear but will not today because of a, quote, "family emergency." NPR learned that his wife went into labor⁵. So Stepien's counsel will appear and make a statement instead. The panel is trying to shed new light on former President Donald Trump's effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The first televised hearing on Thursday night attracted about 20 million people. They tuned in to 11 different networks, including three broadcast networks and cable channels including CNN, MSNBC and Fox Business Network. Earlier, I talked with NPR TV critic Eric Deggans about this particular metric for measuring public interest in the hearings.

ERIC DEGGANS, BYLINE⁶: It is a pretty significant audience. I know there are some naysayers out there who try to compare these numbers unfavorably to other TV events, like Biden's last State of the Union address, which drew 38 million viewers. But for a congressional committee presentation, these were pretty solid numbers, indicating a wide array of people were interested in this material. And it's worth noting that these figures don't include online viewership. They don't include viewership on C-SPAN or even the audience for NPR's broadcast of the hearing, which was carried on member stations nationwide.

MARTIN: OK, so let's dig into the numbers a little bit. Was there anything that struck you when you looked at a more detailed⁷ analysis of the viewership?

DEGGANS: Well, one thing that jumped out at me was that just over 15 million of those 20 million viewers were age 55 or older, according to Nielsen. Now, that's to be expected because younger viewers watch traditional TV outlets⁸ a bit less and are more likely to consume this information online, maybe through clips on YouTube, TikTok or Twitter. And it was interesting that MSNBC, which features a lot of liberal-oriented pundits⁹, got the highest ratings among the major cable channels with 4.3 million viewers.

MARTIN: Fox News didn't air continuous coverage¹⁰ of the hearings. Did that end up affecting their overall ratings that night? Do we know?

DEGGANS: Well, I mean, it seems possible. Fox News star Tucker Carlson, for example, drew over 3 million viewers on Thursday, which was about average for him. On his show, Carlson showed visual images of the hearing, but he spent a lot of his show talking to guests who criticized the proceeding¹¹ and tried to undermine its significance. And, you know, he had no commercials to discourage his fans from changing the channel. But I think when you look at these viewership numbers, they suggest that there were a lot of people out there who just wanted to see what the committee was presenting.

Now, in the market where I live, in Florida - Tampa, St. Petersburg - the local Fox broadcast affiliate¹² carried the coverage from Fox Business. So it was even possible for Fox fans to see continuous coverage of the hearing on their local Fox broadcast station in some markets.

MARTIN: So the second public hearing from the January 6 Committee is happening today - this morning, in fact. I mean, even if roughly the same number of networks carry it, it's not going to get nearly the viewership of the hearing in prime time, right?

DEGGANS: No, we won't see the same audience numbers. The TV audience is dramatically smaller during daytime, which is probably why the committee began their public hearings with a prime-time presentation in the first place. I mean, it's when more viewers are available, and it sends a message of importance when prime-time entertainment shows are preempted¹³.

Now, I do think the committee did a good job of formatting¹⁴ their presentation to make for a compelling prime-time presentation. It was produced not just for the prime-time audience but for journalists and pundits and commentators¹⁵ who could take pieces of that material and then talk about it on other platforms. So we'll see if they can continue that approach to draw attention to daytime hearings, which will likely draw a little less viewership and maybe a little less overall attention.

MARTIN: NPR TV critic Eric Deggans. Thanks, Eric.

DEGGANS: Thank you.

1 analyzing   

v.分析；分析( analyze的现在分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析n.分析

参考例句：

• Analyzing the date of some socialist countries presents even greater problem s. 分析某些社会主义国家的统计数据，暴露出的问题甚至更大。 来自辞典例句
• He undoubtedly was not far off the mark in analyzing its predictions. 当然，他对其预测所作的分析倒也八九不离十。 来自辞典例句

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 tuned   

adj.调谐的，已调谐的v.调音( tune的过去式和过去分词 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• The resort is tuned in to the tastes of young and old alike. 这个度假胜地适合各种口味，老少皆宜。
• The instruments should be tuned up before each performance. 每次演出开始前都应将乐器调好音。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

5 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

8 outlets   

n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店

参考例句：

• The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They must find outlets for their products. 他们必须为自己的产品寻找出路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 pundits   

n.某一学科的权威，专家( pundit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The pundits disagree on the best way of dealing with the problem. 如何妥善处理这一问题，专家众说纷纭。 来自辞典例句
• That did not stop Chinese pundits from making a fuss over it. 这并没有阻止中国的博学之士对此大惊小怪。 来自互联网

10 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

11 proceeding   

n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报

参考例句：

• This train is now proceeding from Paris to London.这次列车从巴黎开往伦敦。
• The work is proceeding briskly.工作很有生气地进展着。

12 affiliate   

vt.使隶(附)属于；n.附属机构，分公司

参考例句：

• Our New York company has an affiliate in Los Angeles.我们的纽约公司在洛杉矶有一个下属企业。
• What is the difference between affiliate and regular membership?固定会员和附属会员之间的区别是什么？

13 preempted   

v.先占( preempt的过去式和过去分词 )；取代；先取；先发制人

参考例句：

• A special news program preempted the scheduled shows. 特别的新节目取代预定计划的表演。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The armymen have preempted the powers of the local government. 军人已夺取了地方政府的权力。 来自互联网

14 formatting   

n.格式化v.使格式化( format的现在分词 )；规定…的格式（或形状、大小、比例等）；安排…的格局（或规格）；设计…的版面

参考例句：

• Select the block of text and-click and choose Default Formatting. 选择目标文字块，点击鼠标右键，选择默认格式。 来自互联网
• There are emerging conventions about the content and formatting of documentation strings. 这里介绍文档字符串的概念和格式。 来自互联网

15 commentators   

n.评论员( commentator的名词复数 )；时事评论员；注释者；实况广播员

参考例句：

• Sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 体育解说员翻来覆去说着同样的词语，真叫人腻烦。
• Television sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 电视体育解说员说来说去就是那么几句话，令人厌烦。 来自《简明英汉词典》