A Democratic landslide was a television hit.
Roughly 31.2 million people watched election returns on television Tuesday night, according to Nielsen, exceeding the total from the 2022 midterms by 23 percent.
The evening’s big ratings winner was NBC, which offered affiliates a staggering 13 consecutive hours of coverage of the dozens of House and Senate races unfolding across the country. NBC led all the major cable and broadcast networks with 6.7 million viewers — a total that did not include a significant online audience for a livestream of its indefatigable data nerd, Steve Kornacki.
Nearly 2.4 million adults under 50 tuned in to NBC, an unusually youthful audience for traditional TV news.
It was a giddy night for Democrats and a disappointing one for Republicans. But on cable, Fox News still led the way.
Fox News, which featured hosts like Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham lamenting President Trump’s tough night, drew 4.3 million viewers, the biggest total audience of any of the big three cable news networks. (Nielsen uses the 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern time slot as a benchmark, although midterm coverage stretched beyond that.)
CNN finished second with 4.1 million viewers. MS NOW — where Rachel Maddow, Chris Hayes and other notables became increasingly upbeat as Democrats dominated — finished third in cable news, with 3.7 million viewers.
Tuesday’s overall viewership was still lower than that of the 2018 midterms, during Mr. Trump’s first term. That year, 36.1 million people watched on traditional TV. Nielsen’s figures encompassed some streaming platforms, but more than 30 million fewer households pay for a TV package today compared with eight years ago, according to MoffettNathanson, a research firm.
The Nielsen data did not include the flurry of livestreams that offered viewers alternatives to follow along with the results.
One of the night’s digital stars was the provocative commentator Hasan Piker, who broadcasts on the Twitch platform. His stream peaked at 241,000 concurrent viewers during the night’s coverage.
But the runaway online winner of the evening was Mr. Kornacki.
A familiar figure to viewers of NBC and MSNBC, he gesticulated and puzzled over his interactive map for roughly 10 straight hours on a raw video feed that offered viewers a behind-the-scenes view into his real-time analysis. On YouTube, Mr. Kornacki’s feed, known as the “Kornacki Cam,” was at one point being watched by more than 335,000 concurrent viewers.
Ken Bensinger contributed reporting.
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