Midterm TV Viewership Dropped 30% This Year, Expected To Plummet Even Further

Midterm TV Viewership Dropped 30% This Year, Expected To Plummet Even Further

Bronson Winslow on November 10, 2022

The midterm elections brought in significantly fewer viewers than 2018 and continue to trend downward, according to Axios.

Compared to 2018, 30% fewer people tuned in to watch the midterms on TV, with only 25.4 million viewers across major news networks, according to Axios. The trend is expected to continue as TV subscriptions have decreased by 22 million since 2018, going from 90 million to 68 million.

Though TV viewership decreased from 2018, the 2022 numbers were larger than the 2014 midterm elections, according to Axios. During the 2014 midterm elections, when Republicans took the Senate during then-President Obama’s second term, only 22.7 million relied on TV networks for election information.

At Least We Know Who Won Election Night in TV Ratings. There was a Red Wave of sorts last night: 2022 midterm-election viewers rushed to @FoxNews https://t.co/JGNc80RLcd

— Tammy Bruce (@HeyTammyBruce) November 9, 2022

Numbers were low, but Fox News remained relatively unfazed with 7.2 million viewers during the 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern Time primetime hours, according to Axios. ABC News received the second largest amount of viewers, bringing in 3.3 million viewers during the same time slot.

MSNBC had 3.2 million, NBC had 3.1 million, CNN had 2.6 million and CBS had 2.5 million viewers, according to Axios. The 2022 midterms were the first CNN fell below MSNBC, but CNN managed to keep the 25 to 54 year-old demographic, second only to Fox News who brought in 1.8 million viewers in that demographic.

TV viewership was split between cable networks and broadcast network coverage, with cable receiving 57% of viewership and broadcast receiving 43%, according to Axios. The majority of viewers, 65%, were 55 or older, and the 18 to 34 demographic only represented 7% of TV viewers.