Editor’s Note
MSNBC topped its cable news rivals on Tuesday evening with ongoing coverage of gubernatorial races, the New York City contest for mayor and a key, Democratic-backed voter initiative in California during Election Day, according to preliminary data from Nielsen.
The network averaged 2.92 million viewers in key, prime-time hours as it covered results from contests in California, New York, New Jersey and Virginia — areas where Democratic candidates and causes emerged victorious.
MSNBC’s viewership came despite losing the resources of NBC News one month earlier — meaning data journalist Steve Kornacki and his interactive screen weren’t present during the cable network’s coverage. The divorce from NBC News last month comes ahead of a planned spin-out of MSNBC and other Comcast cable networks into Versant, after which the network will lean heavier on Comcast’s global news operation Sky News to supplement some of its reporting.
The ratings offered hope to Versant executives that the channel can stand on its own in a post-Comcast world, when it will rebrand as MS NOW. Less clear is whether MSNBC’s strong ratings are an indication of long-term staying power, or a fluke during a contest when Democratic causes were on all the ballots.
Fox News, which typically dominates in prime time, clocked in with 2.76 million viewers, putting it in a close second place. The distance between MSNBC and Fox News in the preliminary ratings data suggests Fox News may wind up leapfrogging the Comcast-owned network when finalized ratings data is available. CNN trailed in prime-time with 1.68 million viewers; its audience was split across the domestic CNN cable channel and the new CNN Stream, which offered alternative programming.
In total-day viewership, Fox News won with nearly 2 million viewers, while MSNBC had 1.28 million viewers and CNN was in a distant third at 748,000 viewers, according to preliminary Nielsen data. Those numbers are expected to increase when finalized data is available.
Between 4 p.m. and midnight, when election coverage was at its peak, Fox News averaged 2.67 million total viewers, compared with 2.14 million for MSNBC and 1.21 million for CNN. Fox News also led in the key demographic of adults between the ages of 25 and 54 with 354,000 viewers, while CNN averaged 326,000 and MSNBC had 303,000.
Across digital platforms, Fox News maintained its dominant online presence. The network drew 10.16 million YouTube views on Tuesday, according to data from Emplifi. MSNBC followed closely with 9.44 million, while CNN attracted 5.84 million. Among the broadcast networks, NBC News led with 3.91 million YouTube views, followed by ABC News with 3.74 million and CBS News with 1.72 million.
