09/28/2016

Cable news’ election-year haul could reach $2.5 billion

The preliminary numbers are in, and they suggest that the first presidential debate of 2016 between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will be the most watched debate going back decades. With the first presidential debate of 2012 averaging 70 million viewers, last night is looking like a massive night for TV news. The numbers from all the channels will be made available by Nielsen over the course of the day. All told, the early numbers continue to show that 2016 just seems to keep getting better for TV news channels. And with the presidential campaign nearing its final stretch, the first forecasts are coming in for just how good the Trumped-up 2016 presidential campaign has been to them.

With the 2016 election’s pivotal events delivering record ratings moments every few months (highest rated primary debate, highest rated primary election night coverage, etc), CNN and Fox News are poised to have the most-watched years in their respective histories, stretching back to 1980 for CNN and 1996 for Fox News. MSNBC has a chance to do so as well. Many networks reported that they’d “sold out” their first debate night early, and are expecting the same for the next three.