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MSNBC’s rating domination was short-lived: After beating CNN on its election night coverage for the first time in network history, the news network owned by NBCUniversal is now bleeding viewers in the wake of Donald Trump’s victory.
On election night, MSNBC scored 6 million viewers compared to CNN’s 5.1 million. But in the days after the election, the network’s total day ratings fell to 808,000 with a 90,000 in the coveted 25-to-54 year old demo, according to Nielsen.
These numbers reflect an average from last Wednesday to Friday. That marks a 54% decrease in the network’s viewership average in the month of October (1.765 million viewers) as well as a 51% decrease in the network’s year-to-date 2024 average (1.655 million viewers). Additionally, on Friday MSNBC saw 636,000 viewers and 61,000 in the demo, making it the network’s lowest rated non-holiday night of the year.
CNN fared slightly better. In the days after the election, the news network’s total daily viewership fell to 611,000 with a 159,000 in the demo. That marked a 36% decrease compared to the network’s average viewership in the month of October (953,000 viewers) as well as a 26% decrease compared to its 2024 average (830,000 viewers).
Both networks are largely considered to have a liberal bias, which at least partially explains their viewership drop off in the wake of Kamala Harris’ loss. Despite these declines MSNBC remains the No. 2 most watched cable news network, beating CNN. This is also part of a fairly expected viewership decline. Directly after the 2016 election, ratings for MSNBC fell. The network then went on to have its four most watched years in its history from 2017 to 2020.
But the right-leaning Fox News didn’t share in these viewership woes. After seeing a staggering 10.3 million total viewers during its election night coverage, the network averaged 4.375 million viewers from last Wednesday to Friday. That’s a 34% increase compared to its October viewership (3.27 million viewers) as well as a 58% increase compared to its year-to-date average (2.775 million viewers). All of these numbers are reported as Nielsen figures.
Unsurprisingly, the 2024 election stands as one of the most widely watched television events of the year. An estimated 42.3 million viewers watched coverage of the U.S. presidential election across 18 TV networks, according to Nielsen. Specifically, the company monitored viewership from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET last Tuesday. But compared to elections past, there was a viewership decline of 25%. The 2020 election drew 56.9 million viewers in prime time.
