News Broadcasting
CNN is top network with 13.3 mn viewers on US election day
MUMBAI: The Obama smile spread to CNN which emerged as the most-watched network on the election day. CNN garnered 13.3 million viewers to take the top spot that day, according to Nielsen Online Custom Analysis data, P2+ Home/Work Panel.
ABC had a total viewership of 12.5 million, followed by NBC (11.9 million), Telemundo (8.5 million), FNC (8.1 million), CBS (7.5 million), MSBNC (6.4 million) and Fox (4.7 million).
CNN topped the cable news competition with an average of 12.3 million total viewers tuning in during primetime, a 36 per cent advantage over FNC’s 9 million and an impressive 109 per cent lead over MSNBC’s 5.9 million.
Among adults 25-54, CNN was also number 1 with 5.8 million, a 48 per cent advantage over FNC’s 3.9 million and 119 per cent lead over MSNBC’s 2.7 million demo viewers. Among younger viewers 18-34, CNN was also first with 3.4 million. FNC stood second with 1.8 million while MSNBC was third with 1.4 million.
CNN had the largest gains in prime time compared to 2004 in 25-54, up 102 per cent, while FNC only increased 4 per cent and MSNBC was up 87 per cent. (This was also reflected in total day where CNN grew the most among 25-54, up 97 per cent and MSNBC was up 94 per cent, while FNC declined 16 per cent).
CNN.com delivered the largest daily audience in its history with 30 million unique visitors on Election Day, more than doubling the previous record of 13.4 million generated on Super Tuesday of this year.
CNN.com Live, the Internet’s only multi-stream, live video news service, pocketed 5.3 million live streams on election day. The number of live video streams served by CNN.com on election day is nearly triple that of its previous daily streaming record, which was set on 1 September, 2008 – the first day of the RNC and the day Hurricane Gustav made landfall. CNN.com also served an additional 6.8 million on-demand video streams on 4 November.
News Broadcasting
News TV viewership jumps 33 per cent as West Asia war draws audiences
BARC Week 8 data shows news share rising to 8 per cent despite T20 World Cup
NEW DELHI:Â Even as individual television news channel ratings remain under a temporary pause, the genre itself is seeing a clear surge in audience attention.
According to the latest data from Broadcast Audience Research Council India, television news recorded a 33 per cent jump in genre share in Week 8 of 2026, covering February 28 to March 6.
The news genre accounted for 8 per cent of total television viewership during the week, up from 6 per cent the previous week. The spike in attention coincided with escalating geopolitical tensions involving the United States, Israel and Iran, which have kept global headlines firmly fixed on West Asia.
The rise is notable because it came at a time when cricket was dominating television screens. The high-stakes stages of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, including the Super 8 fixtures and semi-finals, were being broadcast during the same period.
Despite the cricket frenzy, viewers appeared to be toggling between sport and global affairs, boosting the overall share of news programming.
The surge in genre share comes even as the government has enforced a one-month pause on publishing ratings for individual news channels. The move followed regulatory scrutiny of the television ratings ecosystem.
While channel-level rankings remain temporarily out of sight, the genre-level data suggests that when global tensions escalate, audiences continue to turn to television news for real-time updates.
