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CNN’s airing of “Good Night, and Good Luck,” George Clooney and Grant Heslov’s play about veteran CBS journalist Edward R. Murrow, secured 7.34 million viewers globally. That number reflects U.S. and international CNN viewership, as well as the streaming numbers from both Max and CNN.com.
The presentation last Saturday marked a first for Broadway. Never before had a live play been broadcast and televised around the world. In the U.S., 5.64 million people interacted with CNN’s live broadcast of the five-time Tony-nominated play. Abroad, the play saw 1.7 million interactions.
Specifically when it came to linear viewership in the U.S., 2 million viewers over the age of 2 tuned in to the event, making it the No. 1 program in the country when it came to cable television for the evening. As for viewers between the ages of 25 and 54, the event was seen by 223,000 viewers and ranked No. 3 in all of cable during the time period, behind only ESPN and ESPN2. “Good Night, and Good Luck” also marked CNN’s second-highest primetime delivery of the year in the 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. time slot.
As for streaming, the play was the No. 3 most-watched CNN event of the year on Max for subscribers across all ad tiers. Peak concurrent digital viewing on CNN.com was 67,100 at 8:33 p.m. during the closing monologue of the play, which implies there was a strong audience during the entirety of the performance.
Overall, CNN’s airing of the play greatly boosted its reach. The live performance was seen by a total of 155,000 people throughout its entire Broadway run, an insider familiar with the matter told TheWrap. That means CNN’s airing marked a 4,635% increase in reach compared to its Broadway run.
An adaptation of Clooney and Heslov’s 2005 film of the same name, “Good Night, and Good Luck” follows the conflict between Murrow and U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy. The play, which premiered on Broadway in March of 2025, was directed by David Cromer and stars Clooney as Murrow, making his Broadway debut.
