NBC Draws 6.7 Million Midterm Viewers as TV Election Audience Jumps 23%
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Nov 5
NBC Draws 6.7 Million Midterm Viewers as TV Election Audience Jumps 23%
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Nov 5
Summary
31.2 million people watched Tuesday’s midterm returns on television, up 23% from 2022, as a Democratic landslide lifted interest in election-night coverage.
NBC led all major broadcast and cable networks with 6.7 million viewers after airing 13 straight hours of results coverage, and it also drew an unusually young 2.4 million adults under 50.
Fox News still topped cable news alone with 4.3 million viewers, ahead of CNN’s 4.1 million and MS NOW’s 3.7 million during Nielsen’s 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. benchmark window.
Steve Kornacki extended NBC’s reach online: his YouTube 'Kornacki Cam' topped 335,000 concurrent viewers, while Twitch commentator Hasan Piker peaked at 241,000.
The TV total remained below 2018’s 36.1 million, even as Nielsen included some streaming, reflecting a much smaller pay-TV universe than eight years ago.