CNN lost nearly half its election night audience, falls to MSNBC for first time

Fox News was the top choice for TV viewers on election night, marking the second straight time the conservative network led rivals in viewership for presidential results.

According to Nielsen data, Fox News averaged 10.3 million viewers from 8 to 11 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday, finishing ahead of ABC’s 5.7 million viewers who tuned in for coverage of former President Trump’s victory over Vice President Kamala Harris.

The night was a milestone for MSNBC, which topped CNN on a presidential election night for the first time.

Comcast Corp.-owned MSNBC averaged 6 million viewers, beating CNN’s 5.1 million viewers. Warner Bros. Discovery-owned CNN lost nearly half of the 9.6 million people who watched during the 2020 presidential election.

Overall TV viewing of election coverage was down from 2020. Nielsen said 42.3 million viewers tuned into election coverage across 18 networks measured, dropping 25% from 2020. During that cycle, the outcome wasn’t called for days. Democrat Joe Biden eventually was declared the victor over then-incumbent Trump.

The declines are due to the the audience’s shift away from watching traditional TV, especially among viewers under the age of 50, who have moved to streaming and social media for their news consumption. Cord-cutting has reduced the number of homes that cable news outlets reach.

Fox News coverage anchored by Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum was down from its record 13.8 million viewers in 2020, a year when cable news channel viewership reached an all-time high. Even with MSNBC’s improved competitive position, the outlet was down from 7.3 million in 2020.

Broadcast networks were down as well.

NBC averaged 5.5 million viewers, followed by CBS (3.6 million), the Fox broadcast network (2 million), Fox Business Network (897,000) and NewsNation (265,000), which also was carried on the CW Network.

More viewers are streaming election coverage online. Fox News said its digital sites had 47.2 million views between 6 p.m. and 3 a.m. Eastern. MSNBC’s YouTube channel had its strongest day on record with 30 million video views.

MSNBC’s “Kornacki-Cam,” which provided a continuous look at Steve Kornacki’s analysis of the vote, had more than 9 million video starts on YouTube.

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