The much-anticipated appearance by former special counsel Robert Mueller Robert (Bob) MuellerCNN's Toobin warns McCabe is in 'perilous condition' with emboldened Trump CNN anchor rips Trump over Stone while evoking Clinton-Lynch tarmac meeting The Hill's 12:30 Report: New Hampshire fallout MORE before Congress drew nearly 13 million viewers on Wednesday — less than previous high-profile hearings.

Overall, the hearings before the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees drew a total of 12.98 million viewers when combining the audiences of Fox News, ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC and CNN, according to early Nielsen Media data.

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Fox News topped all broadcast and cable news networks in the ratings race, averaging 3 million viewers from 8:15 a.m. through 3:45 p.m. while lawmakers questioned Mueller, according to the Nielsen data.

The number of total viewers was considerably lower than those for former FBI Director James Comey James Brien ComeySteele Dossier sub-source was subject of FBI counterintelligence probe Judge will not dismiss McCabe's case against DOJ Democrats fear Russia interference could spoil bid to retake Senate MORE, who drew nearly 20 million viewers, and former Trump personal attorney Michael Cohen Michael Dean CohenJudge orders Eric Trump to comply with New York AG's subpoena before Election Day A huge deal for campaign disclosure: Trump's tax records for Biden's medical records Our Constitution is under attack by Attorney General William Barr MORE, whose testimony earlier this year drew just under 16 million.

The confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh Brett Michael KavanaughTrump faces tricky choice on Supreme Court pick The Hill's 12:30 Report: Trump stokes fears over November election outcome The Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by Facebook - Trump previews SCOTUS nominee as 'totally brilliant' MORE pulled in more than 20 million viewers after he was accused of sexual misconduct decades ago. Kavanaugh has denied the allegations.

In terms of individual ratings, MSNBC was the second most viewed network after Fox News, averaging 2.41 million. ABC was third with 2.12 million, with NBC's 1.99 million, CBS's 1.91 million and CNN's 1.52 million rounding out the six major channels covering the highly anticipated event.

CBS is currently blacked out in approximately 10 million homes due to a carriage dispute with AT&T, the owner of DirecTV.

During his testimony, Mueller stuck closely to the contents of his report, rarely deviating from its findings in what was widely seen as an uneven performance.

He also declined to answer several questions posed by lawmakers.