As millions of Americans cast their ballots on Election Day, fewer of them tuned in to watch the results on TV.

Nielsen reported Wednesday that 42 million viewers watched election night coverage from 7 to 11 p.m. ET Tuesday. That’s 25% less than in 2020, when 56.9 million viewers tuned in.

What You Need To Know

  • 42 million viewers watched election night coverage from 7 to 11 p.m. ET Tuesday, according to the Nielsen ratings service

  • That's 25% less than in 2020, when 56.9 million viewers tuned in

  • People aged 55 and up were the largest audience

  • Among the cable networks, Fox News had the most viewers (9.77 million) for its prime-time coverage, followed by MSNBC (5.5 million) and CNN (4.7 million)

People aged 55 and up were the largest audience for coverage of the 2024 presidential and Congressional races.

Among the cable networks, Fox News had the most viewers (9.77 million) for its prime-time coverage, followed by MSNBC (5.5 million) and CNN (4.7 million). It was the first time in network history that MSNBC beat CNN for its prime-time election coverage.

Nielsen based its ratings on data from ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, CW, Merit Street Media, Scripps News, Telemundo, Univision, CNBC, CNN, CNNe, FOX News Channel, FOX Business Network, MSNBC, Newsmax, NewsNation and PBS. Its audience estimates include out-of-home viewing for most of the networks.

It’s the second presidential election season that has seen viewership declines. In 2020, audience numbers were down 20.3% from 2016, when former President Donald Trump defeated Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.