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MSNBC’s ratings dominance was short-lived: The NBCUniversal-owned news network CNN covered election night for the first time in the network’s history and is now hemorrhaging viewers after Donald Trump’s victory.
On election night, MSNBC got 6 million viewers compared to 5.1 million for CNN. But in the days following the election, the network’s total daily ratings dropped to 808,000, of which 90,000 were in the coveted 25-54 demo, according to Nielsen.
These numbers reflect an average from last Wednesday through Friday. That represents a 54% drop in the network’s October average audience (1.765 million viewers), as well as a 51% drop in the network’s 2024 average so far this year (1.655 million viewers). Additionally, MSNBC on Friday had 636,000 viewers and 61,000 in the demo, making it the network’s lowest non-holiday night of the year.
CNN fared slightly better. In the days following the election, the news network’s total daily audience dropped to 611,000, of which 159,000 were in the demo. That represents a 36% drop compared to the network’s October average audience (953,000 viewers), as well as a 26% drop compared to the 2024 average (830,000 viewers).
Both networks are largely liberal-leaning, which at least partially explains the drop in viewership after the loss of Kamala Harris.
But right-leaning Fox News didn’t share these ratings woes. After a staggering 10.3 million total viewers during its election night coverage, the network averaged 4.375 million viewers from last Wednesday to Friday. This represents a 34% increase over October’s audience (3.27 million viewers), as well as a 58% increase over its year-to-date average (2.775 million viewers). All of these figures are presented as Nielsen numbers.
Not surprisingly, the 2024 election is one of the most-watched TV events of the year. According to Nielsen, an estimated 42.3 million viewers watched coverage of the US presidential election on 18 TV networks. Specifically, the company monitored viewership from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET last Tuesday. But compared to the last election, there was a 25% drop in viewership. The 2020 election attracted 56.9 million viewers in primetime.
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