The capture of Boston bombings suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev turned out to be very good news for CNN and Fox News, with CNN capturing the best numbers for the key news demo and Fox scoring a win in total viewership with their coverage of the manhunt for Tsarnaev on Friday.
CNN beat out both Fox News Channel and MSNBC in the 25-54 demo throughout the night, starting during the 7 p.m. hour, when news of Tsarnaev's capture broke. During that hour, CNN drew 2.36 million viewers in the demo, compared to Fox's 1.57 million and MSNBC's 459,000. Fox, meanwhile, was the most-watched network during the hour, with 5.75 million, versus CNN's 5.2 million and MSNBC's 1.43 million.
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During the 8 to 11 p.m. primetime, the pattern continued, with CNN holding onto the demo win and Fox retaining its total viewership dominance.CNN averaged 2.47 million viewers in the demo through primetime, ahead of 1.93 million for Fox and 618,000 for MSNBC. Meanwhile, Fox kept its most-watched crown through the primetime hours with 5.97 million total viewers compared to 5.37 million for CNN and 1.72 million for MSNBC.
Tsarnaev (pictured) has been charged with conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction against persons and property, as well as malicious destruction of property by means of an explosive device resulting in death, according to Boston.com.The bombings, which occurred during the Boston marathon last week, left three dead and many more wounded.