After five full days of hearings across two weeks, the average live TV viewership for impeachment has been roughly 12 million people, according to Nielsen. Ratings have dipped slightly from a peak on Day 1, Nov. 13, which drew an audience of 13.1 million, but the drop-off is less than what many sitcoms see after a season premiere.

And the numbers for cable news are superlative: Last week, Fox News notched its highest-rated week of the year in terms of total viewership. MSNBC enjoyed the best week in its 23-year history for total viewers.

Politics is driving television these days. Impeachment has upended networks’ daytime schedules, where the usual diversions of soap operas and “Ellen”-style chat shows have been usurped by stone-faced government officials offering soliloquies on Ukrainian politics.

From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., viewership of the big cable news networks — CNN, Fox News and MSNBC — on impeachment days has been nearly double the average from a year ago, according to Nielsen.