35.6 Million U.S. Households Watch 2024 Election Night Results
The question of who won the 2024 presidential election was answered earlier than many had anticipated, with former President Donald Trump being declared the winner in the wee hours of election night. As for who won the night among viewers, Trump's preferred network, Fox News Channel, came away as the victor. Overall, more than 35 million households watched coverage of what was billed as one of the tightest presidential contests in recent memory. Republican Trump ended up securing a second term with a solid margin of victory over Democrat Kamala Harris. Interest in the outcome was clearly high based on the strong viewership. How Many Election Night Viewers Watched Cable And Broadcast TV? Some 35.6 million households tuned in to election results Tuesday night from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. EST, according to Samba TV, a provider of TV technology for audience data and omniscreen measurement. It found the average household tuned in for 2 hours, 13 minutes. Which Network Drew The Biggest Election Night Audience? Fox News Channel posted the largest audience on election night, averaging 9.8 million households. CNN was second among networks measured by Samba with 7.4 million, followed by 5.8 million for MSNBC. Fox News has long been the cable news ratings leader, so it is not surprising it would pull ahead on election night 2024. But it is also Trump's network of choice, and with his returns getting stronger as the night wore on, his supporters may have switched on the TV to watch the results. MSNBC is considered left-leaning, and Harris's disappointing night may have impacted its audience. Both MSNBC and Fox News viewership peaked around 10 p.m., while CNN's peaked at 9 p.m. Big Audiences For Spanish-Language Networks Both candidates vied hard for Latino voters, with Trump wooing a greater percentage than he won in the previous two elections. Univision drew 1.8 million households on election night, while rival Telemundo posted 1.3 million. Which Cities Had The Biggest Election Night Ratings? Probably not surprisingly, Washington, D.C., home to many of the nation's political movers and shakers, was among the biggest consumers of election night news. New York and New Jersey rounded out the top three, with all three cities overindexing typical viewership numbers by 9% to 11%. Interestingly, swing states North Carolina and Georgia underindexed by 9% and 4%, respectively, perhaps reflecting voter fatigue with all the nonstop ads about the election. What Demographics Were The Most Engaged Election Night 2024 Viewers? Not surprisingly, older households accounted for the greatest proportion of viewership, with adults 65-74 overindexing 7% and over 75 overindexing 12%. Comparatively, millennials and Generation G households underindexed, which likely reflects differences in how these groups consume news—younger demos get information from their smartphones via social media feeds and videos, while older viewers stick to TV.
