Approximately 25.4 million people watched last night’s results in primetime, according to Nielsen. That total figure comes from 8 – 11 PM coverage on ABC, CBS, NBC, Telemundo, Univision, CNN, CNNe, Fox Business, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, Newsmax and NewsNation. Out of home and connected TV viewing is also included in the data.
Indicative of the state of 21st century media and perhaps the allure of politics in a deeply divided America last night’s total viewership tumbled 29% from the 2018 midterm viewership. That night four years ago, which saw the Democrats take back the House of Representatives and set up a fighting opposition to then President Donald Trump, was aired on ABC, CBS, NBC, Telemundo, Univision, PBS, CNN, CNNe, Fox Business, Fox News Channel and MSNBC.
In a bit of an update from earlier, things moved around among the broadcast networks. ABC now is number #1 among the Big Three with 3.307 million viewers watching the Disney-owned net’s primetime midterms coverage. NBC were a close second with 3.107 million tuning in, and CBS had an audience of 2.561 million.
Overall, the audience for the 2022 midterms was up 11% from the 2014 midterms where then President Barack Obama had a much worse night that President Joe Biden did last night. Then again, in a very different era, those midterms of eight years ago were only shown on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC
[Is it any wonder that fewer people bothered when vote counting now takes weeks rather than hours to get a conclusion on midterm results? — Ed]
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