Iowa Caucus Viewership On Three Major News Networks Down From Recent Cycles; Fox News Tops Coverage

Ted Johnson

16 January 2024 at 2:35 pm·2-min read

Turnout for the Iowa caucuses was down, and so was viewership. Early numbers show that interest was down considerably from 2020 and, before that, from 2016, with about 4.67 million watching primetime coverage across Fox News, CNN and MSNBC.

That’s compared to the 8.5 million who watched the caucus coverage on the three networks in 2020 and the 10.2 million who watched in 2016, when both parties had competitive races.

More from Deadline

The coverage faced competition from the NFL playoff game on ABC and the Emmy awards on Fox.

Fox News topped primetime coverage with 2.83 million viewers, followed by MSNBC with 1.15 million and CNN with 688,006.

In the 25-54 demo, Fox News averaged 402,391, compared to CNN with 193,817 and MSNBC with 142,521.

During the 8-9 p.m. ET hour, when networks projected Donald Trump as the winner, Fox News averaged 2.9 million, followed by MSNBC with 1.19 million and CNN with 848,266. In the 25-54 demo, Fox News averaged 427,960, followed by CNN with 223,707 and MSNBC with 143,242.

The numbers are from Nielsen via Fox News. Final numbers could change, albeit not enough to impact the overall trend of a viewership decline from previous cycles.

The caucus numbers do not include figures from smaller networks like NewsNation and Newsmax, or coverage on broadcast streaming services like ABC News Live, NBC News Now and CBS News Streaming. Broadcast networks did do special primetime reports on the results, but left ongoing coverage to their streaming channels.

Fox News’ caucus coverage was up 7% versus 2012, when 2.64 million watched the network in primetime. CNN’s coverage this year was off by 48% compared to that year, when 1.33 million watched. MSNBC in 2012 averaged 1.2 million, down 4%. Primetime viewership across all three networks that year was 5.17 million.

Best of Deadline

Wales Online
A camera caught this man red handed, what he had been doing in people's houses is absolutely staggering
When they got home, people felt sick, horrified and useless
Wales Online
Helen Skeleton makes announcement as Morning Live dropped from schedules
Host of BBC One's Morning Live Helen Skeleton made an announcement at the end of show
The Telegraph
Watch: Yemen’s Houthi rebels strike British oil ship in Red Sea
Video footage shows the moment Yemen’s Houthi rebels launched an explosive-laden drone boat into a British oil tanker in the Red Sea.
Manchester Evening News
Man United fans fume at ridiculous Guinness pints at Old Trafford as they'd 'send it back'
Guinness pints failed to impress members of the hospitality section at Old Trafford – and it's left football fans seriously riled up as they tucked into the stout
Bradford Telegraph and Argus
Man takes action after he spotted gang of youths wheeling his motorbike from house
A man took action after he spotted a gang of youths wheeling his motorbike away from his property in Bradford.
Hello!
Geri Halliwell-Horner wows in white swimsuit in wild swimming photo
Geri Halliwell-Horner rocked a white zip-up swimsuit as she posed for WWF's 'A Prescription for Nature' campaign alongside Andy Murray and Joe Wicks
The Bolton News
Dentist issues warning over common habit that could give you gum disease
A dentist has issued a warning to Brits over a common daily habit that may be giving you gum disease.
Hello!
David Mitchell and wife Victoria Coren's U-turn decision on children they shield from spotlight
Peep Show actor David Mitchell is fronting a brand new BBC show called Ludwig. Away from acting, he and his wife Victoria Cohen Mitchell are proud parents to two daughters but prefer to keep their family life out of the spotlight…
HuffPost
Trump's Response To Melania's Abortion Stance Has Critics Saying Same Damning Thing
The former president's "I'm not going to tell you what to do" admission drew backlash on social media.
The Independent
Phillip Schofield Cast Away viewers make same complaint about brief moment in finale
‘I need to bleach my eyes’ said one viewer of the Channel 5 show
BuzzFeed
Older Adults Are Calling Out Things They Think Are A Huge Waste Of Money, And I Never Considered Some Of Them
"The first one that came to my mind: HOA fees."
The Guardian
Donald Trump’s foul-mouthed migrant rant captured in private pitch to donors
Republican nominee claims Harris is threat to democracy in recording of top-dollar fundraiser in Colorado in August
Wales Online
TUI, easyJet, Ryanair and BA passengers told 'don't fly without'
Passengers have been told "it's not as easy as you'd think"
The Independent
Giovanni Pernice explains why he got ‘frustrated’ with Amanda Abbington on Strictly Come Dancing
Italian dancer has reflected on his his rehearsal room behaviour after the BBC investigation result
PA Media: UK News
Woman charged with manslaughter following deaths of four paddleboarders
Paul O’Dwyer, Andrea Powell, Morgan Rogers and Nicola Wheatley died in the incident on October 30 2021.
Manchester Evening News
£300 Winter Fuel Payments could be reinstated thanks to legal challenge
The Government has been accused of breaking the rules when it took the payments of millions of pensioners
Manchester Evening News
DWP update as thousands of married women could get £10,000 pension payouts
The parliamentary ombudsman has launched an investigation
The Daily Beast
Judge Scolds ‘Privileged’ MAGA Election Official During Searing Sentencing
A Colorado judge threw the book at a MAGA folk hero on Thursday after bizarre scenes in court that included “magnetic mattresses” and courtroom outbursts. Tina Peters, the infamous election-denying Colorado clerk who tried to help Donald Trump overturn 2020 election results, was sentenced to nine years in prison—a far cry from probation, as her attorneys had asked for. Peters, 68, was found guilty last month of allowing a man associated with MyPillow’s Mike Lindell to enter the Mesa County elect
HuffPost UK
Fiona Bruce Calls Out Tory MP For Overlooking Boris Johnson's Own Freebies Row In Question Time Clash
"He was leader of your party, and he accepted an awful lot of money," the BBC presenter pointed out.
BuzzFeed
I Thought I Knew My Mom. Then I Found A Grainy Polaroid That Forced Me To Reconsider.
"I stared, dumbfounded, as two questions formed in my mind. First, who was this person? And second ― why didn’t I know her?"

Latest stories