Fox News drew the largest television audience of any US network for Tuesday's midterm election coverage, according to preliminary Nielsen figures released on Wednesday. The channel averaged more than 5 million prime-time viewers. MS NOW finished ahead of CNN among cable rivals.

Fox News led ABC, NBC and CBS as well as its cable competitors. That repeats a pattern seen in the 2018 and 2022 midterms and the 2024 presidential election. In 2022, according to Nielsen, Fox News averaged about 7.4 million prime-time viewers, roughly double the audience of either rival cable channel.

The 2026 race was the first midterm since MSNBC rebranded as MS NOW in November 2025, following its separation from NBCUniversal under Comcast's Versant spin-off. Executives at the channel had treated election night as a major test of whether the new name had cost it viewers. The preliminary figures suggested it had held its audience against CNN, which also covered its first major election night since parent company Warner Bros. Discovery restructured its business.

Overall audiences were expected to fall short of 2024 presidential election levels, according to Nielsen data. Media analysts at Variety and Deadline noted that midterm turnout on television typically runs well below presidential years. Broadcast networks also split coverage across streaming platforms, which Nielsen measures separately and which can lift final totals.

The figures carried weight beyond bragging rights. Cable news channels have faced steep declines in their regular prime-time audiences since 2024, and election nights remain among the few occasions that draw mass viewership. Final, time-zone-adjusted Nielsen numbers, including streaming viewers, were expected later in the week.