News ratings down after election, MSNBC sees 54% fall, CNN down 36%

[Karah Rucker]

IT’S A BUSY NEWS CYCLE COMING OFF THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.

IT’S A TIME OF YEAR NEWS ORGANIZATIONS BANK ON HAVING HIGH VIEWERSHIP –

WITH HIGH INTEREST IN WHO WINS THE ELECTION –

AND REACTION TO THE RESULTS.

BUT SOME NETWORKS ARE SEEING THEIR POST-ELECTION AUDIENCE QUICKLY EVAPORATING.

ACCORDING TO NIELSEN RATINGS –

MSNBC HAD A BIG ELECTION NIGHT –

BRINGING IN 6 MILLION VIEWERS.

BUT THE DAYS FOLLOWING THE ELECTION –

MSNBC’S VIEWERSHIP TANKED TO LESS THAN A MILLION.

THE NETWORK – LOSING MORE THAN HALF OF ITS AUDIENCE COMPARED TO ITS AVERAGE VIEWERSHIP IN OCTOBER LEADING UP TO THE ELECTION.

FRIDAY ALSO MARKED THE NETWORK’S LOWEST-RATED NON-HOLIDAY NIGHT OF THE YEAR.

MSNBC RECORDED A SIMILAR LOSS IN VIEWERSHIP FOLLOWING THE 2016 ELECTION AFTER TRUMP’S LAST PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION VICTORY.

BUT THE NETWORK REBOUNDED –

GOING ON TO HAVE ITS FOUR MOST-WATCHED YEARS IN ITS HISTORY FROM 2017 TO 2020 –

AS MANY NEWS OUTLETS WERE ABLE TO CAPITALIZE ON TRUMP-HEAVY COVERAGE WITH RECORD REVENUE AND SUBSCRIBERS.

FOLLOWING LAST WEEK’S ELECTION –

CNN ALSO HEMORRHAGED VIEWERSHIP.

THE NETWORK SAW 5.1 MILLION PEOPLE TUNE IN DURING THEIR ELECTION COVERAGE.

IN THE DAYS AFTER THE ELECTION –

CNN’S VIEWERSHIP ALSO FELL TO 611 THOUSAND

A 36% DROP COMPARED TO ITS AVERAGE VIEWERSHIP IN OCTOBER LEADING UP TO ELECTION NIGHT. (953K).

FOX NEWS SAW A VERY DIFFERENT TREND.

While MSNBC and CNN were losing viewers, Fox News gained.

On election night, the network SAW OVER 10 MILLION PEOPLE TUNE IN.

AND in the days that followed, Fox’s total viewership AVERAGED OVER FOUR MILLION —up 34% from its October average.

That’s ALSO a 58% jump compared to its 2024 year-to-date numbers.

WHILE THIS TREND SHOWS LEFT-LEANING CABLE NETWORKS LOSING THEIR AUDIENCES AFTER TRUMP’S VICTORY AND RIGHT-LEANING NEWS OUTLETS GAINING –

THERE IS ONE LEFT-LEANING TALK SHOW THAT IS DEFYING THIS TREND.

THE VIEW SEEING A GAIN IN VIEWERS  AFTER TRUMP WON THE ELECTION –

POSTING ITS BEST WEEK OF RATINGS IN OVER THREE YEARS.

THE ABC DAYTIME TALK SHOW AVERAGED 3 MILLION VIEWERS DURING THE WEEK OF NOVEMBER 5TH –

MAKING IT THE TOP-RATED DAYTIME TALK SHOW.

ON THE DAY AFTER THE ELECTION –

THE VIEW HAD ITS MOST-WATCHED EPISODE IN OVER A DECADE –

PULLING IN 4 AND A HALF MILLION VIEWERS –

ITS HIGHEST SINCE BARBARA WALTERS’ FAREWELL EPISODE BACK IN 2014.

42 MILLION PEOPLE OVERALL WATCHED THE ELECTION UNFOLD ACROSS 18 TV NETWORKS ACCORDING TO NIELSON RATINGS –

BUT IT’S NOT GOOD NEWS FOR THE INDUSTRY AS A WHOLE –

AS 57 MILLION TUNED IN DURING ELECTION NIGHT OF 2020 –

A 25% DECREASE IN VIEWERSHIP COMPARED TO LAST CYCLE.

SOME IN THE MEDIA ARE SUGGESTING THE LOSS IN VIEWERSHIP ON NEWS’ BIGGEST NIGHT CAN BE ATTRIBUTED TO A LACK OF TRUST IN MEDIA.

CARLO VERSANO WITH NEWSWEEK SAYS –

“The path of traditional media’s institutional collapse is really two intertwining stories: a breakdown of its business model exacerbated by a breakdown of influence, the extent of which became clear this campaign cycle. Behind it all lies a growing sense among Americans that the media cannot be trusted to tell them the news they believe is fair.”

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I’M KARAH RUCKER.