Trump's televised trial could rival Super Bowl viewership

Trump's Televised Trial Could Rival Super Bowl

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Katherine Fung

By Katherine Fung

Senior Writer

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A televised criminal trial against former President Donald Trump could pull in viewership that rivals the nation's biggest sporting events.

"There's gonna be an awful lot of coverage," veteran media consultant Brad Adgate told Newsweek. "The initial burst will do something almost like a Super Bowl in terms of views."

Trump was indicted for a fourth time on Monday night by a jury in Fulton County, Georgia, who charged him with 13 felony counts related to election interference, including alleged violations of the state's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. The indictment sets up what could be the only Trump trial that is broadcasted on live television.

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Although cameras have not been allowed in the courtrooms of federal criminal cases, many state courts allow photos and video. Georgia, in particular, has been known to favor open courtrooms, which the state supreme court sees as an "indispensable element" of an effective judicial system. The decision will ultimately be left to the judge presiding over the case.

Adgate estimates that if the judge grants the media's request, Trump's trial could see about 100 million views on the first day of broadcast.

Trump's Televised Trial Could Rival Super Bowl

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"The most watched political event was the first Hillary Clinton-Donald Trump debate in 2016, which was 84 million [views]," Adgate said. "If this will be televised by a dozen TV networks, not including streaming... At least the opening day will be somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 million."

February's Super Bowl LVII game drew an average audience of 115.1 million viewers, making the 2022 championship game the most watched Super Bowl in history. Those numbers, provided by ratings agency Nielsen Media Research, also include digital streaming. The year before, the Super Bowl LVI drew an average of 95.2 million viewers.

Although Adgate predicates that the beginning of a Trump trial would be heavily watched, he said courtroom coverage tends to get pretty boring for viewers, so those figures would not be sustainable for a trial that takes place over several weeks, as most RICO cases do.

Since Trump is also facing federal charges as well as state charges in New York, the timing of the Georgia trial could also water down the viewership, Adgate said.

"There's going to be an awful lot of fatigue factor that viewers are going to have with all of these ongoing testimonies and coverage that they'll be getting," he said. "Is this going to be the first court hearing? The second? Third? Fourth?"

A televised Trump trial would also put Fox News in the hot seat. The conservative network has faced pushback in the past over its coverage decisions. Last year, Fox notably did not broadcast the January 6 House committee hearings live while other major networks did.

When it comes to a Trump trial, however, it's unlikely Fox can avoid live coverage.

"If they want to call themselves a news network, I don't know how you can not cover this," Adgate said. "It would obviously be a lot different than what other networks would be talking about... but I don't really think that they can get away without covering at least the first days of the hearing."

Other industry experts agreed, adding that trial coverage would also be too paramount of a financial opportunity for Fox executives to skip out on.

"The ratings will be too much for Fox to resist," James Haggerty, communications consultant specializing in high-profile litigation, told Newsweek. "They'll take steps, no doubt, to avoid their past mistakes, but there's just too much money at stake. In fact, I'd expect CNN to broadcast all or most of a Trump trial as well."

"FOX would benefit greatly," public relations expert Richard Laermer also told Newsweek. "While Rupert Murdoch may seem to be 'against' Trump it's obvious his viewers are still entertained by the former president's antics and that makes good TV for his base. The base is FOX viewership. So it's a win-win."

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