TV Ratings: Election Night Honors Go To FNC

Tuesday's Elections was good for Republicans—and Fox News, which saw its election night coverage draw big ratings Tuesday night, reaching a peak of 5 million viewers in the 10 p.m. ET hour, easily outdistancing the cable news competition, reports Forbes. 

At 10 p.m., Fox’s total audience was very nearly double that of CNN and MSNBC—combined. Fox News’ ratings represented the highest-rated “odd year” election night in the network’s history.

MSNBC drew a total audience of 1.354 million viewers in the hour, while CNN delivered a total audience of 1.194 million viewers, according to ratings data compiled by Nielsen. In the key demographic of viewers 25-54, Fox News led with 988,000 viewers, followed by CNN (413,000 viewers) and MSNBC (259,000 viewers).

Fox News led the competition in each hour of election coverage, and the network set ratings records in the 11 p.m. ET and 12 a.m. ET hours, with each ranking as the most-watched 11 p.m. and 12 a.m. hour of 2021.

Graphic Courtesy of RoadMN

In prime time, Fox finished far in front, with an average audience of 4.650 million viewers, followed by MSNBC (1.493 million viewers) and CNN (1.035 million viewers). In the key demo, Fox was first with 936,000 viewers, followed by CNN (335,000 viewers) and MSNBC (262,000 viewers).

Fox News viewers decided to stay up late, while viewers watching CNN and MSNBC called it an early night—between 12 and 2 a.m. ET, Fox News still drew millions of viewers (2.303 million), while the competition’s viewership dropped significantly, with MSNBC drawing just 660,000 viewers and CNN delivering a total audience of 583,000 viewers.

The trend continued into the 3 o’clock hour, with Fox News drawing a total audience of 2.125 million viewers, followed by MSNBC (794,000 viewers) and CNN (552,000 viewers).