TV viewing on election night dropped off considerably from four years ago, based on preliminary ratings from Nielsen.
Primetime coverage of the presidential election averaged about 36.6 million viewers across the big four broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC) and three biggest cable news channels (CNN, Fox News and NBC) — a steep drop from the 50.7 million who tuned into those outlets four years ago. All seven outlets saw their numbers from 8 to 11 p.m. fall compared to 2020. Donald Trump was elected to his second term, with most news outlets calling the race early Wednesday morning.
Fox News led primetime with about 9.8 million viewers watching coverage anchored by Bret Baier and Martha McCallum. ABC (5.67 million) led the broadcast race and edged out MSNBC (5.5 million) for second place overall. NBC averaged 5.32 million viewers, followed by CNN (4.71 million), CBS (3.49 million) and the Fox broadcast network (2.14 million). Those numbers don’t include out of home viewing and thus will rise some in the final nationals, but they’re unlikely to match the ratings from 2020.
In fact, there’s a good chance Tuesday will go down as the least watched election night since at least 2004 (Nielsen has total viewer data dating back to 2000, and household figures for earlier elections). Just over 55 million people watched the returns in 2004.
More to come.
English (US) ·