Could the Midterms Deliver a Blowout Ratings Night for Cable News?

A high-water mark in 2018

The 2018 midterms brought Democrats control of the House and ended Republicans’ hold on both Congress and the White House. Republicans added two seats to their Senate majority, while Democrats also won several governorships. The dramatic results prompted coverage on a scale closer to a presidential election.

Across linear networks, election coverage averaged 36.1 million viewers, up from 22.7 million in 2014. The three largest cable news outlets—Fox News, CNN and MSNBC, now known as MS NOW—averaged 13.94 million viewers from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. ET, and more than 17 million in primetime.

Networks shared the gains

Fox News averaged 6.12 million viewers over the seven-hour period, a 23 percent increase from 2014. CNN drew 3.88 million and MSNBC 3.95 million, more than doubling their 2014 audiences.

A quieter night in 2022

In 2022, Republicans won the House, but the anticipated “red wave” did not materialize. The Senate shifted from a 50-50 tie to a one-seat Democratic majority, producing a more typical midterm result than the previous election.

The all-network primetime average was 25.43 million viewers, 30 percent below 2018. Over the full election-night period, Fox News fell about 8 percent, while CNN’s total audience dropped 47 percent and MSNBC’s fell 32 percent.

What this year may bring

The post-election audience boost in 2022 was limited. All three networks improved their November totals from the prior year, and CNN and MSNBC recorded modest gains in January 2023. Those gains disappeared the following month, when all three were below February 2022 levels, during a surge in news viewing tied to the start of the Russia-Ukraine war.

This year’s pre-election outlook appears to carry higher stakes than the relatively routine outcome of 2022, and Donald Trump is part of the political backdrop. Ratings later this week will show whether viewers tune in at levels closer to 2018.