Cable news channels had another big night on Wednesday as viewers tuned in for updates on the still undecided presidential race. CNN topped primetime across all of television, moving ahead of usual cable leader Fox News. MSNBC was also way above average.
CNN averaged 7.38 million viewers in primetime with its election coverage, beating all other cable and broadcast networks. The channel also led the key news demographic of adults 25-54 (2.7 rating, equivalent to about 3.26 million viewers in that age range) and adults 18-49 (2.2 rating/2.87 million viewers).
CNN also had the second-largest total-day audience in its history with 4.53 million viewers, trailing only Election Day in 2016.
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After dominating election night, Fox News fell one spot to second place, averaging 6.51 million viewers with its regular lineup of Tucker Carlson Tonight, Hannity and The Ingraham Angle. The network’s morning show Fox & Friends also had its most watched episode ever with 4.64 million viewers.
MSNBC was a little farther back in primetime with 4.97 million viewers.
On the broadcast networks, only NBC had election coverage all night, averaging about 3.6 million viewers for its three hours. ABC and CBS each aired one-hour specials at 10 p.m., drawing 2.62 million and just under 2 million viewers.
The Fox broadcast network moved back to regular programming, where, despite the big audiences on cable news, The Masked Singer was up week to week. It drew a 1.7 rating among adults 18-49 and 6.56 million total viewers. I Can See Your Voice (1.1, 4.38 million) also improved.
ABC’s The Goldbergs (0.8 in 18-49, 3.78 million viewers) was also up a little, while American Housewife (0.6, 3.14 million) was fairly steady. The Conners (0.7, 4 million) and Black-ish (0.5, 2.39 million) came down a bit. The Amazing Race (0.7, 4.03 million) was also on par with last week for CBS.
Bookmark THR.com/Ratings for more ratings news and numbers.
