CNN DRAWS THE BIGGEST AUDIENCE IN KEY DEMO ON ELECTION NIGHT 2025
SEES DOUBLE-DIGIT GROWTH COMPARED TO RECENT OFF-YEAR ELECTIONS
BEST PRIMETIME DELIVERY OF THE YEAR IN BOTH DEMOS
BEST DAY AMONG DEMO SINCE JANUARY 2025
Washington, DC – (November 7, 2025) – CNN continues to be a leading destination for live news coverage as audiences turned to its multiplatform coverage of Election Night in America 2025. Election Night coverage extended across platforms with a worldwide reach of 28.97 million. On television, the organization’s comprehensive reporting and analysis led CNN to be #1 of all cable networks among P25-54+ (621k) in Prime (8p-11p).
CNN was also #1 in cable news delivering the largest viewership among P25-54. In addition, CNN reached the most younger viewers, ranking #1 in all of cable (177k) among P18-34.
In a dynamic media environment with changing consumption habits, CNN still saw double-digit growth among both demos compared to prior off-year elections in Prime (8p-11p). Versus 2023, CNN grew +45% among P2+ (1.914m vs. 1.320m) and +60% among P25-54 (621k vs. 389k). Versus 2021, CNN grew +77% among P2+ (1.914m vs. 1.083m) and +74% among P25-54 (621k vs. 356k). Furthermore, the night outpaced CNN’s coverage of Election Night 2021 by +6%, delivering the highest worldwide reach for CNN since Trump’s Inauguration on January 20, 2025 (38.19M).
CNN’s comprehensive election coverage also marks CNN’s best primetime delivery of the year and the best since the 2024 election in both demos (11/5/24; 2.178m P25-54 & 5.103m P2+). CNN’s coverage peaked in the 9p hour when Zohran Mamdani was declared the winner of the NYC mayoral race, registering 705k P25-54 and 2.139 million P2+. The hour also ranked # 1 in all of cable among P25-54.
In Total Day (3a-3a), CNN ranked #2 in P25-54 (183k). CNN was #2 in cable news among P25-54. This was also CNN’s best day among P25-54 since Trump’s 2025 Inauguration (1/20/25; 221k).
CNN’s digital platforms had more than 18 million unique visitors on Election Day, ranking ahead of Election Day 2023 by +8%. CNN also saw over 1 million live video starts across its digital properties (+81% from Election Day 2021). Furthermore, time spent on Election Day surpassed Election Day 2021 and Election Day 2023 by double digits.
CNN Election Night 2025 special coverage was led by Jake Tapper from Washington and Anderson Cooper and Erin Burnett from New York City. For the first time, CNN also offered a livecast via its new streaming platform featuring Charlamagne Tha God, Ben Shapiro, CNN’s Harry Enten, along with influential commentators Isabel Brown, Kara Swisher, Ana Kasparian, and Tezlyn Figaro.
Source: The Nielsen Company Big Data + Panel. Pre-September 2025 data based on Panel Only. P2+, P25-54 & P18-34 Average Audience. 3a-3a Total Programming Day (Varies by Network); Adult Swim and Nick-at-Nite Excluded from Total Day All of Cable Rank Due to Only Airing in Prime Hours. Based on Live+Same Day only data streams, Including OOH Viewing.
Worldwide Reach: TV via Nielsen Npower. P2+. Live+Most Current Data. TV coverage block 7p-2a. OOH reach numbers based on a ratio of Nielsen CNN TV OOH only audience/to total TV AA for CNN historical events. TV Intl Estimates are based on a ratio of Comscore digital domestic to Intl reach and applied to TV. Digital includes 11/4/2025-11/5/2025 P2+ uniques for event related content. CNN OTT, Web & Apps via Adobe Reports and Analytics. Offsite includes MSN and Apple News uniques. Social via Rival IQ estimated global uniques. SiriusXM based on the ratio of subscriber data available via Statista.com.
Source: CNN Internal Digital Analytics