NBC News and ABC News soared ahead in election coverage ratings as a blue wave formed that saw Democrats take control of the House and the Senate.
NBC News brought in an average of 6.52 million total viewers during primetime, according to preliminary Nielsen fast national ratings, with ABC News taking second place with 4.91 million viewers. CBS News ranked last among the six networks measured, averaging 2.63 million viewers.
The race was a bit closer among the cable news networks in primetime, with the trio finishing virtually tied: CNN with 3.93 million viewers, MS NOW with 3.92 million viewers and Fox News with 3.88 million viewers.
MS NOW, meanwhile, led cable across a broader eight-hour window from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. ET, averaging 3.3 million viewers to CNN’s 3 million and Fox News’ 2.8 million.
The preliminary figures could change when Nielsen releases final ratings.
NBC News also led the pack in both the 25-54 demo as well as the 18-49 demo with 2.8 million viewers and 2.35 million viewers, respectively. ABC News came in second place in both demos with 1.61 million viewers in the 25-54 demo and 1.32 million viewers in the 18-49 demo, while CNN beat the cable competition and came in third place with 1.44 million viewers and 1.18 million viewers, respectively.
Fox News scored 741,000 viewers in the 25-54 demo, while CBS News brought in 715,000 demo viewers and MS NOW averaged 701,000 demo viewers.
The remaining rankings were similar in the 18-49 demo, though CBS News pushed past Fox News with 559,000 demo viewers, while Fox News scored 540,000 viewers and MS NOW scored 520,000 viewers.
Tuesday’s midterm brought notable wins for the Democratic party, flipping Senate seats in Iowa, Kansas, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina and Texas.
On YouTube, MS NOW scored its best day ever on the platform with a record 33.2 million views, leading CNN with 18.5 million views and Fox News with 16.2 million views, according to figures from ListenFirst.
