Super Tuesday often previews the interest viewers have in a particular news network's coverage of the upcoming election. If that trend holds this year, CNN ought to be concerned.

All five major news networks (two broadcast networks and three cable networks) aired live news coverage of the results on Tuesday at 10 pm. Fox News led with 3.51 million viewers, followed by MSNBC, with 1.96 million, ABC with 1.88 million, NBC with 1.68 million, and CBS with 1.46 million. CNN was a distant fifth with just 938,000 viewers.

During primetime hours – which NBC, ABC, and CBS did not carry in full – CNN also lagged well behind the competition: Fox News, 3.51 million, MSNBC 1.96 million, and CNN 900,000.

CNN trailing the other networks is not exactly new. It's been that way for nearly five years. However, CNN historically received the largest bump during heavy news nights, such as elections, primary elections, hurricanes, and breaking news periods.