So which network won the US Election battle?
Here's how all the numbers stacked up yesterday....
- Published by David Knox
- on
- Filed under News
All networks yesterday screened Live coverage of the US Election from around 10am – 6pm AEDT, with some exceptions.
While OzTAM shares gives us a clear indication for primetime, that doesn’t include daytime.
When you factor in coding elements it’s also complex – some split titles, while others ran as a single title, resulting in a lower average (and there were various overruns too).
With that in mind here are the relevant National TV Audience numbers, with times added where available:
Seven: Seven News 6pm 1.18m
Nine: Nine News 6pm 1.11m
Nine: A Current Affair 7pm 939,000
ABC: ABC News: USA Votes – One Hour Special 7-8pm: 905,000
ABC: USA Votes: Election Latest 5pm 585,000
ABC: Planet America: Election Night Special 9:30pm 531,000
ABC: USA Votes: America’s Decision 506,000
Nine: US Presidential Election America Decides 491,000
ABC: USA Votes: The Race For The White House 2pm 466,000
ABC: USA Votes: Election Results Live 447,000
Seven: Sunrise 410,000
Nine: 9News US Election Edition 404,000
ABC: USA Votes: Election Day Live 10am 380,000
Nine: US Presidential Election America Decides 364,000
Nine: Today 320,000
ABC: News Breakfast Late USA Votes 331,000
ABC: News Breakfast 301,000
Nine: US Presidential Election America Decides 289,000
10: 10 News First 5pm 274,000
Nine: US Presidential Election America Decides 254,000
10: The Project: America Decides 6pm 224,000
Seven: US Presidential Election 214,000
Seven: The Morning Show 9am 209,000 / 149,000
ABC News: USA Votes Special Coverage 199,000
Nine: Nine News US Election Special 168,000
Nine: Today Extra 9am: 153,000
SBS: SBS World News 6:30pm 150,000 / 136,000
10: 10’s Late News 10:40pm 115,000
SBS: US Election Special SBS / PBS 10am 66,000
10: America Decides: Election Coverage 10am 43,000
In other key shows yesterday:
The Block topped the night at 1.19m
Home & Away 895,000
The 1% Club UK 776,000
Hard Quiz 560,000
Question Everything 454,000
Shark Tank 228,000
Love Island 148,000
The Jury 147,000
Nine won Wednesday’s primetime.
National Total TV: Wednesday 6 November 2024
18 Responses
Just wondering David, how does this work? Channel 7 normally wins the Daily News Ratings but then when it comes to Breaking News or Special News Events like now the US Election, Channel 9 would normally always win the Ratings??
Why.. I see it as if viewers prefer 9News when it comes to Trusted & Professional News then just stick with watching 9News all the time in the Daily News Ratings!?? Why change, don’t understand the viewers!
You’ve determined who won, not me. You could argue ABC won. But as the post indicates, some networks split code broadcasts and some did not, making comparisons -and conclusions- very tricky.
Ok David.
Apart from ABC, just between 9News & 7News, why in general Daily Ratings does 7News normally win but when it comes to Breaking, Special Event News why does then 9News normally always win?? Why do Viewer Ratings change it, just stay with 9News if they Trust it more like now.??
Not sure if you understand what I’m trying to say..
It would depend on where the news pertains to, the presentations put in place in terms of anchors / reporters / live cross. Sometimes Nine, but sometimes Seven if you look at Royal stuff. Generally speaking a breaking news event will bring out more viewers who do not normally tune in.
Ok I see thanks David, makes more sense.
So would also mean then older viewers are always watching 7News and then the new younger viewers would watch 9News for something Important.!?
I think part of the issue is that the extra viewers Nine gets for ‘special events’ coverage is not coming at the expense of Seven. It is people who do not normally watch free to air news at all coming in to get information about a widely publicised event. Your initial question seems based on the premise that there are a fixed number of news viewers – in reality it seems to be a standard audience most of the time with an extra cohort added when something ‘interesting’ is occurring like an election, natural disaster or terrorist event.
I didn’t watch the US election as I was in NZ but I wonder what the TV schedule looked like when the election went overtime at 6pm (outside Sydney/Melb)
Watched MSNBC, coverage was very good and Steve Kornacki is an absolute legend almost near to Antony Green on the ABC.
Much better to watch via a US channel and get their perspective than Australians… Go Fetch!
I watched via a Twitch Channel that usually shows police chases, switching between feeds and getting x (twitter) updates. We had a good time.
Can I just say good on you for not allowing comments on that news post yesterday about the US election. You check these posts before you post them to keep things civil, today’s day and age it’s impossible to discuss US politics while being civil.
Hopefully today is back to more normal programming and I can watch The Chase UK.
Seven spent weeks promoting their “unbeatable” “exclusive CNN partnership” however Nine, and others had the same “exclusive CNN” feed. It was very disingenuous of 7 to cut the CNN logo off of the end of the CNN strap they permanently displayed, whereas 9 displayed the CNN logo on the identical strap. I preferred the CBS/10 reporting by Americans, rather than Australians.
Didn’t waste my time with any FTA coverage , went straight to the US of A sources , CNN , NBC or ABC not to mention one of many other streaming channels , but NBC I stuck with.
Definitely a strange move 7 sticking with The Morning Show yesterday don’t you think David? Clearly showed in the ratings!
I think you will find it was mostly Election related. There’s a lot of coding going on, hard to get a read.
Tried to watch a shows on Channel 10 the other night, but the everlasting watermark for Shark Tank was so boldly coloured and distracting.
It also seemed larger than normal because it had a line of text claiming the show had a major Australian breakthrough on the programme.
And the results of all that ballyhoo – including the loss of at least one other viewer from another show – a measly 228,000.
Channel 10 deserves to be at the bottom of the commercial heap.
I found this during Matlock on Monday night, luckily that particular show was simulcast on 10BOLD obviously to draw in viewers. I watched it on 10BOLD, in HD, without the big annoying watermarks.
Whilst I stayed on Nine all day, every time I channel surfed 7 or 10 were on ad breaks. It seemed that Nine had less ad breaks and they had a variety of guests from across the political spectrum