Nielsen estimates about 16 million watched Michael Cohen

The Nielsen company says that 15.8 million people watched President Donald Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, testify against him on television before a congressional committee.

Nielsen estimated the viewership on eight different networks between 9:45 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Wednesday.

The number contrasts with the 20.4 million who watched the daytime testimony of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh before a Senate committee last September.

Fans of Fox News Channel were responsible for the bulk of the difference. They were far more interested in watching Kavanaugh address a woman’s accusations that he had groped her drunkenly at a high school party than a lawyer denounce the president as a racist, con man and cheat.

An estimated 5.7 million people watched Kavanaugh on Fox last year, while 2.3 million turned on Fox for Cohen coverage, Nielsen said Friday.

CBS, with 3.06 million viewers, led the networks for Cohen coverage, followed by ABC’s 2.95 million. MSNBC (2.82 million) beat its broadcast sister, NBC (2.48 million). CNN had just under 2.1 million.