Fact check: How many watch the army parade at home

1. Summary of the results

The Army parade received mixed media coverage across different platforms. While Fox News, CNN, and C-SPAN provided full live coverage of the four-hour event, major networks (ABC, CBS, NBC) opted to only stream it on their digital platforms rather than interrupt regular programming ^{[1] [2]}. The parade featured approximately 6,000 soldiers and 128 Army tanks ^[3].

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

Several crucial details were omitted from the original question:

• The parade experienced significant attendance issues, with multiple reports of early departures and empty spaces:
• The Independent's Richard Hall described it as comparable to a "medium-sized town's July 4th celebration" ^[3]
• NBC Washington reported a "logjam" of people leaving early ^[4]
• The New York Times noted "hordes of people" departing before the event's conclusion ^[4]
• There's a substantial discrepancy in attendance figures:
• White House communications director Steven Cheung claimed 250,000 attendees ^[3]
• Independent reporting suggested significantly lower numbers, with visible empty bleachers ^[3]

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

The question of "how many watch at home" cannot be accurately answered as:

• Different stakeholders benefit from different narratives:
• The White House has an interest in promoting high attendance figures, as demonstrated by their insistence on the 250,000 figure despite contrary evidence ^[4]
• Traditional networks (ABC, CBS, NBC) chose to prioritize regular programming over the parade, suggesting they didn't anticipate significant viewer interest ^[2]
• Fox News, CNN, and C-SPAN invested heavily in live coverage, indicating they expected substantial viewership from their specific audience demographics ^[2]