Viewership fell by more than 1 million for Friday's televised impeachment hearings on Capitol Hill compared to the first day of public testimony.

Nielsen Media Research data showed 12.7 million people tuning in to the second day of the impeachment hearings across ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox News, CNN and MSNBC.



Fox News led the way with an average 2.8 million total viewers from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. MSNBC was second with 2.7 total million viewers, while CBS was third with 2 million. ABC placed fourth with 1.93 million, NBC fifth with 1.83 million and CNN sixth with 1.615 million.



The number of viewers was less than the 13.8 million viewers who tuned in on the first day of impeachment hearings on Wednesday, per Nielsen.

William Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, and State Department official George Kent testified on the first day, while former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch Marie YovanovitchGrand jury adds additional counts against Giuliani associates Lev Parnas and and Igor Fruman Strzok: Trump behaving like an authoritarian Powell backs Biden at convention as Democrats rip Trump on security MORE spoke on the second.



The 12.7 million who tuned in Friday marks a 35 percent drop from the number of people who watched 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’s testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee in 2017, which delivered more than 19.5 million viewers.



In February, former Trump personal attorney and fixer Michael Cohen Michael Dean CohenAppeals court appears skeptical of Trump's latest argument against tax returns subpoena Judge 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 MORE's testimony delivered 15.8 million viewers, while 13 million tuned in to see 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 testify before the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees in July.

Impeachment hearings for President Nixon in 1973 were also covered live on a rotating basis by the major broadcast networks ABC, CBS and NBC, while PBS carried the proceedings wall-to-wall for more than 250 hours.



According to Gallup, 71 percent of Americans watched the Nixon impeachment hearings live.