NBC Leads Midterm Election Night Viewing With 6.52 Million

NBC led primetime television on midterm election night, averaging 6.52 million viewers on Tuesday, 3 November, according to early Nielsen figures reported by The Hollywood Reporter. Nielsen is the company that counts TV audiences in the United States. Primetime means the main evening hours, roughly 8 to 11 p.m. Eastern.

ABC came second with 4.91 million viewers. The cable news channels followed. CNN averaged 3.93 million, MS NOW 3.92 million and Fox News 3.88 million. CBS drew 2.63 million.

Taken together, the six networks reached 25.79 million viewers. That already passes the 25.43 million that 12 networks drew across the full 2022 midterm coverage. The 2018 midterm election night still holds the high mark this century, with 36.11 million viewers across 11 outlets.

If the early numbers hold, NBC would be the first broadcast network to lead a federal election night in total viewers since the 2012 presidential election, which NBC also topped. In the 2022 midterms, NBC finished fourth among the six most-watched news outlets. This year, NBC scheduled 13 hours of live coverage under the title Decision '26, starting at 5 p.m., according to Variety.

Much of the draw came from NBC's online offerings too. NBC said its "Kornacki Cam," a live feed built around the network's election analyst Steve Kornacki, drew 29 million views across all platforms, including 6.1 million on YouTube. On YouTube, the feed peaked at about 300,000 concurrent streams, meaning that many people watching at the same moment, between 8:30 and 11:30 p.m. Eastern. NBC said this was the most-watched live stream of the night. Peacock, NBC's streaming service, carried simultaneous feeds and live results from 2:30 p.m.

Among adults aged 25 to 54, a group advertisers pay close attention to, NBC averaged 2.8 million viewers in primetime.

These are early counts, and they will change. The fast national ratings, which Nielsen releases the morning after a broadcast, leave out viewing in bars, offices and other places outside the home. They also leave out Nielsen's big data measure, which uses set-top and streaming information to fill gaps.

The night's results were also big news in their own right. Democrat Kathy Hochul won re-election as New York governor, defeating Republican Bruce Blakeman. NBC News analysis projected that Democrats would win at least 258 House seats, well above the 218 needed for a majority.

For the networks, the next step is the final numbers, which will include the wider measures that the early count leaves out.