'Special Report with Bret Baier' averaged a whopping 5.3 million viewers during coverage of SpaceX's successful rescue mission
Crews tend space capsule containing stranded astronauts after splashdown
Fox News senior correspondent Jonathan Serrie reports on the return of four astronauts, including two stranded NASA members, on ‘Special Report.’
Americans tuned in to Fox News Channel for its breaking news coverage of the astronauts' return to Earth, more than any other network.
"Special Report with Bret Baier" averaged a whopping 5.3 million for the entire 6 p.m. ET time slot, nearly the entire hour dedicated to the rescue mission by Elon Musk's SpaceX to bring home astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who had been in space for nine months on what was supposed to be an eight-day mission. Viewership peaked at 5.6 million total viewers, according to data from Nielsen Media Research.
That was much higher than the audiences of the three broadcasting networks. CBS trailed with 2.9 million viewers, followed by ABC's 1.8 million and NBC's 1.1 million.
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Fox News Channel was the most-watched network for breaking news coverage of Elon Musk's SpaceX rescue mission of astronauts Suri Williams and Butch Wilmore. (Getty Images/Fox News)
Additionally, Fox News crushed its liberal cable news competitors in both total viewers and in the advertiser-coveted demographic ages 25-54. CNN and MSNBC virtually tied in total viewers with less than 1.2 million and just 181,000 and 90,000 in the key demo respectively, far below Fox News' 606,000 average in the timeslot.
Following coverage of the landing, 4.4 million viewers tuned in to "The Ingraham Angle" for Fox News' Laura Ingraham's one-on-one sit-down with President Trump. Both CNN and MSNBC averaged roughly 820,000 total viewers.
"Hannity" maintained Fox News' momentum in the 9 p.m. ET timeslot with 3.9 million total viewers who watched Fox News' Sean Hannity's interview with Musk, who offered his first reaction to SpaceX's successful landing. MSNBC trailed in second with 2.3 million total viewers, while CNN earned less than 600,000.
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Williams and Wilmore were all smiles as they were removed from the SpaceX Dragon capsule, which safely landed in the Gulf of America and was welcomed by a pod of dolphins.
Fox News Channel has become America's go-to network for breaking news. Earlier this month, Fox News was the most-watched network during Trump's joint address to Congress, ahead of all broadcast and cable news competitors.
And Fox News' primetime lineup surpassed the three major broadcasters during the week of March 3.
Fox News' primetime programming surpassed the three major broadcasters during the week of March 3. (Fox News)
Joseph A. Wulfsohn is a media reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to
