The 2024 U.S. presidential election marked a significant shift in how Americans consumed election coverage, with streaming platforms, particularly YouTube, gaining substantial ground over traditional television networks.
Streaming vs. Traditional TV Viewership
YouTube emerged as a dominant platform for election coverage in 2024:
- Nearly 84 million hours of live election content was streamed on Election Day[1][7].
- YouTube accounted for 80.6% of those streaming hours, totaling approximately 67 million hours[1][7].
- Peak viewership for political streams on Election Day reached over 9.14 million viewers[1][7].
In contrast, traditional television networks experienced a decline:
- Nielsen reported that 42.3 million people watched election coverage across 18 networks during prime time[1][4].
- This represents a 25% decrease from the 2020 election, when 56.9 million people watched during the same time period[1][4].
Shifting Viewer Habits
The data suggests a clear trend towards online platforms:
- The share of voters who followed election returns online increased by 14 percentage points since 2012 (from 34% to 48%)[3].
- The percentage of voters who tracked results using social networking sites more than doubled (from 8% to 21%)[3].
- Younger adults (under 35) were especially likely to turn to online sources, with 79% following election returns online[3].
YouTube’s Dominance
YouTube’s success in election coverage was particularly notable:
- Fox News’ YouTube channel recorded 1.14 million peak concurrent viewers[7].
- NBC News reached 616,900 peak concurrent viewers on YouTube[7].
- MSNBC’s YouTube channel had a record-breaking 30 million video views on Election Day[4].
While traditional TV still played a significant role, the shift towards streaming platforms, especially YouTube, is undeniable. The data shows that more people are turning to online sources for election coverage, with YouTube leading the charge in providing accessible and engaging content for viewers across the United States.
Citations:
[1] https://www.thewrap.com/youtube-election-streaming-increase-networks-ratings-fall/
[2] https://www.nbcuniversal.com/article/msnbc-tops-cnn-presidential-election-night-first-time-network-history
[3] https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2016/11/21/tv-still-the-top-source-for-election-results-but-digital-platforms-rise/
[4] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/election-night-tv-ratings-fox-news-trump-b2642991.html
[5] https://fortune.com/2024/11/06/youtube-election-news-trump-harris-twitch-rumble-stream-fox-nbc/
[6] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VITcF1yV6g
[7] https://www.newscaststudio.com/2024/11/07/2024-election-live-streaming-analytics/
[8] https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/digital/2024-election-youtube-ratings-joe-rogan-1236060864/
[9] https://www.nielsen.com/news-center/2024/over-42-million-viewers-tune-in-to-watch-2024-presidential-election-coverage/
[10] https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/election-night-2024-ratings-42-million-viewers-1236203138/
[11] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4605455/
[12] https://finance.yahoo.com/news/youtube-viewers-guzzled-84-million-030700206.html
[13] https://streamscharts.com/news/us-election-results-live-streaming
[14] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uo2Uf-SA_3U
[15] https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradadgate/2024/11/13/some-viewers-abandon-television-networks-on-election-day/
Leave a Reply