Millions were glued to streaming and digital platforms as people around the world watched the results of the U.S. presidential election unfold.
Stream charts, live streaming statistics and analysis database, reported Total streaming data totaled 84 million hours watched, with YouTube accounting for the lion’s share of that at 80.6%. Rumble, an online video platform popular among conservatives, came in second with 13.1%. Fox News was the most popular broadcast streamed live on YouTube, setting a record with a peak audience of 1.14 million viewers, according to Stream Charts data. NBC News trailed Fox with a peak audience of 616,900 viewers, according to streaming reports.
On the other hand, Nielsen reported Traditional broadcast and cable viewers drew 42 million viewers across 18 television networks, who tuned in from about 7 p.m. to about 11 p.m. That’s down more than 25% from the 2020 election cycle, when prime-time viewers were 56.9 million, according to Nielsen data. Fox News’ prime-time coverage, which includes Fox News Digital, topped all television networks with 13.6 million viewers, the company announced Wednesday. Fox’s digital platforms saw record engagement, marking their best day since 2020 in page views, media and time spent. The company reported that Fox News Digital secured 47.2 million livestream views between the evening and early morning hours.
Nazar Babenko, Product Manager for Streams Charts said: luck Live streaming platforms are attractive to viewers because they allow you to come and go. “It’s no longer just watching; people are actively discussing and reacting in real time, reshaping the election debate in the process,” Babenko said.
Even before the election, political events were driving more participation on live streaming platforms, he said. The number of political references in chats on Amazon-owned live streaming platform Twitch has waxed and waned depending on trends in the Republican and Democratic presidential campaigns. After Kamala Harris participated in a CNN town hall event, her mentions on Twitch spiked by 39.5%. The debate between Harris and Donald Trump in September had a peak concurrent audience of about 8 million viewers and 17 million hours watched worldwide, Babenko said. This has sparked discussion ahead of other popular live streaming events such as Apple Event 2024, North American Pro League, League of Legends Summer Event, and Call of Duty League 2024 Playoffs.
In October, about 5,600 channels across eight platforms mentioned Donald Trump in about 24,000 stream titles, according to Stream Charts. Streams drove 49 million hours of content viewing. According to their analysis, Twitch, YouTube, and Rumble streams had the highest frequency of mentions of Trump.
“This evolution of political movements is part of a dynamic shift in which younger audiences (often reached through popular streamers and live debates) are currently shaping the future of democracy, both within the United States and around the world.” ,” Babenko said.
NBC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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