Americans are tuning out of election coverage in 2024, hitting broadcasters’ hopes of another lucrative “Trump bump” in ratings as the prospect of a second clash between Joe Biden and Donald Trump cuts audiences by as much as half.
Tuesday’s Republican primary contest between Trump and Nikki Haley in New Hampshire drew just 6mn viewers between 8pm and 11pm across Fox News, CNN and MSNBC, the top cable news channels. That was down from 8.6mn on the same night in 2020 and 8.7mn in 2016, according to Nielsen data.
The Iowa caucuses earlier this month, after a CNN debate which Trump skipped, showed even steeper declines. Only 4.7mn people watched the three cable networks’ primetime coverage, compared with 8.7mn in 2020 and 10.2mn in 2016.