Up +18% in Total Viewers from Last Democratic Midterm in 2014
Biggest Midterm Ever for CNN Digital with Nearly 10 Million Starts of Live TV Feed
Final Nielsen numbers for coverage of the 2022 midterm elections now put CNN as the second most watched network in the advertiser-coveted demo 25-54 during primetime hours of 8-11pm ET, edging out NBC News who now falls to third. Final Nielsen numbers bumped CNN up ahead of NBC News to 1.059 million among adults 25-54 during the primetime hours of 8-11pm ET. In total audience, final Nielsen numbers also bumped CNN up ahead of CBS News to 2.608 million among total viewers during the primetime hours of 8-11pm ET.
CNN’s audience still shows the youngest audience by far (57 years), 10 years younger than MSNBC (67), 7 years younger than Fox News and CBS News (both at 64), 6 years younger than ABC News (63) and 3 years younger than NBC News (60).
CNN was also up from the last democratic midterm in 2014 by +8% among adults 25-54, +17% among total viewers and +12% among younger adults 18-34.
Combining TV plus digital live streaming produced a combined average audience of 2.819 million total viewers. Digital viewing added an 8% lift to CNN TV P2+ average audience for Election Day (even more than 2014 and 2018’s lift). CNN Election Night (8-11pm ET) saw an average audience of 211k users live streaming the average minute of coverage (equivalent to the way TV ratings are calculated).
CNN also saw its biggest midterm ever on CNN Digital with 9.4 million starts of the live feed of CNN TV coverage on owned platforms (an unauthenticated live stream of CNN TV’s programming started at 9am ET on CNN.com, CNN OTT and mobile apps under “TV Channels” and CNNgo where available). The live stream of CNN’s 2022 Election Night in America saw 213k concurrent viewers streaming at the 10:03pm peak on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 8th. CNN Digital had 34.2 million unique visitors overall on Election Day 2022. CNN’s Election Center saw users averaging nearly 11.5 minutes.
Historically, audiences stay with CNN Digital in massive numbers the day after Election Day, with users seeking to understand and engage with the results as they continue to come in. As control of the Senate and House still hangs in the balance, we will continue to report the news and serve audiences as the week continues.
CNN anchors and correspondents fanned out across the country covering the most contested races and the voting process itself. The CNN political unit reported on the ground in Arizona, Georgia, New Hampshire, Ohio, Florida, New York, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Utah, Wisconsin and other states in the final days leading up to the election and as the votes were counted.
The audio of CNN’s Election Night in America coverage also streamed on CNN’s channels on SiriusXM, Radio.com and TuneIn Radio.
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