Election Night 2024 Coverage Draws 42.3 Million Viewers, Down Over 25% From 2020
Approximately 42.3 million viewers tuned in to primetime coverage of the 2024 U.S. Presidential election on Tuesday night, according to Nielsen data. The overall rating for the night was a 13.3, with approximately 28.45 million households.
That covers the viewing period of approximately 7-11 p.m. ET across 18 networks, specifically: ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, CW, Merit Street Media, Scripps News, Telemundo, Univision, CNBC, CNN, CNNe, FOX News Channel, FOX Business Network, MSNBC, Newsmax, NewsNation, PBS.
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That is down significantly from network coverage in 2020, which drew an estimated 56.9 million viewers, equalling a drop off of approximately 26%. A number of factors no doubt contributed to that decline, including the fact that people were still largely under lockdowns due to COVID during the 2020 election.
Per Nielsen, viewership was highest among those 55 years old and above, who accounted for 24.35 million of the 42.3 million viewers. 11.4 million people 35-54 tuned in, followed by 4.38 million in the 18-34 demographic.
While it was largely expected that results from the election might take multiple days to be fully tabulated, former U.S. President Donald Trump was declared the winner in the early hours of Wednesday morning, winning multiple battleground states to clinch the 270 electoral votes needed to defeat his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris.
Harris conceded the race later on Wednesday, giving her concession speech on the Howard University campus in Washington D.C.
“We must accept the results of this election,” she said. “A fundamental principle of American democracy is that when we lose an election we accept the results…I know many people feel like we are entering a dark time. For the benefit of us all, I hope that is not the case.”
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