(Image source from: Reuters)

The high-stakes Senate hearing on the United States Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh stock-still American television viewers with nearly 20.4 million people tuning in on six broadcast and cable networks, according to Nielsen data released on Friday.

The large number for a weekday audience represents solely a fraction of Thursday's total viewership of the moving testimony that lasted about nine hours. It does not comprise millions more who streamed the happening on computers or phones or crowds that watched in bars and some other public places.

Stanford University professor Christine Blasey Ford, at a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her 36 years ago when they were both in high school.

However, Kavanaugh vigorously denied it.

According to Nielsen estimation, 20.4 million people combined watched on broadcast networks CBS, ABC, NBC and cable channels CNN, Fox News Channel, and MSNBC. Broadcasters discontinued their regular programming to show the hearing.

Among cable news channels, Fox News Channel pulled in an average audience of 5.7 million people, preliminary data from Nielsen showed. MSNBC attracted 2.9 million, and CNN brought in 2.5 million.

The whole surpassed the audience for the June 2017 hearing where former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey talked about his dealings with President Donald Trump before he was fired. Nearly 19.5 million people watched that showdown across 10 networks.

By Sowmya Sangam