Kamala Harris'' CNN town hall sets viewership record

Washington, January 30

Indian-origin presidential hopeful Kamala Harris' town hall on CNN with an average of 1.957 million viewers got the network its highest ratings ever for such an event with an individual election candidate, according to the network.

Harris, 54, who was elected to the Senate in 2016, announced her run for presidency last week. She has been voted on top of the list of Democratic leaders aspiring to defeat President Donald Trump in the November 2020 election. 

Harris, the second African-American woman elected to the US senate, has drawn comparisons to Barack Obama since early in her political career. 

CNN announced on Tuesday that the broadcast was the most-watched cable news single candidate election town hall, according to Nielsen data.

The live event on Monday averaged 1.957 million viewers, a figure far greater than CNN's previous four town halls, which attracted an average audience of 1.119 million each, the network said in a statement.

Monday night's CNN Town Hall with Harris was the most watched cable news single candidate election town hall ever, the news network said in a statement.

The town hall averaged 712,000 among adults 25-54 from 10-11pm, easily topping all cable news competition. 

CNN was also number one in prime time in the demos, it said. In the townhall, Harris reflected on her various policy issues, responding to questions from the audience.

Moderated by CNN anchor Jake Tapper, the Town Hall with Kamala Harris propelled CNN to 945,000 total day live starts across digital platforms on Monday. 

The California Senator is hoping to capitalise on high early fundraising numbers and enthusiasm from the base before the Democratic primary field.

It was reported last week that the Harris campaign raised more than $1.5 million in online donations in the 24 hours since she announced her candidacy for president. She also held a highly publicised rally on Sunday to officially kick off her presidential bid. PTI