Coverage Turned Off TV Viewers

Not only did millions of Americans not bother voting on election day, they didn’t tune in to see who won or lost.

Preliminary ratings on Wednesday showed a sharp drop in viewership for election-night coverage on the major television networks compared to 1992. It was consistent with an election campaign that repeatedly turned off viewers.

ABC, CBS and NBC scored a combined 28.7 rating and 42 share for their election coverage from 7 to 11 p.m. Tuesday night. That’s according to Nielsen Media Research’s overnight ratings from 35 major media markets representing 55% of the population.

In 1992, the three networks had a 39.8 rating and a 57 share for their election-night audience, Nielsen said.

A rating point represents 970,000 households, or 1% of the nation’s estimated 97 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of TV sets in use and tuned to a show during a specified time period.

CNN reported a 2.4 rating and 4 share during its election coverage from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m., while PBS had a 1.6 rating and 3 share for its coverage from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.