November 5, 2026
(NEW YORK – Nov. 4, 2026) – As consequential midterm race calls continued late into the evening and early morning hours, MS NOW owned the day and night across cable, on YouTube, and through its new Member-exclusive interactive features.
For the first time, MS NOW ranked #1 across all of cable on an election day, according to Nielsen Preliminary National Ratings. As polls opened and through the final races being called, MS NOW averaged 2.138 million total viewers on television, ahead of CNN (1.8 million) and Fox News (2.133 million), and up 32% from 2022.
MS NOW also ranked #1 across cable in primetime (8 - 11 p.m. ET) with 4.189 million total viewers, ahead of CNN (4.177 million) and Fox News (4.080 million), an increase of 30% when compared to the 2022 midterm elections.
Rachel Maddow led primetime coverage and was joined by Nicolle Wallace, Chris Hayes, Jen Psaki, Lawrence O’Donnell, Michael Steele, Symone Sanders Townsend, Ari Melber, Peter Alexander, Stephanie Ruhle, Luke Russert and more. Ali Velshi tracked the results at the Big Board. Throughout the night, the meaning of this year’s results came into focus: Rachel Maddow called the House flip “a seismic change in Washington,” while Chris Hayes described the Democratic victories as “a total shellacking.”
During the network’s special “We The People” election programming (6 p.m. ET to 2 a.m. ET), MS NOW also ranked #1 with 3.520 million total viewers, ahead of CNN (3.242 million) and Fox News (2.977 million), a 32% increase in viewership when compared to the 2022 midterm elections.
ELECTION DAY 2026 MARKS THE NETWORK’S BEST DAY ON YOUTUBE, TOPPING EVERY NEWS ORGANIZATION, MORE THAN 100% INCREASE IN WEB AND APP TRAFFIC COMPARED TO 2022
Yesterday marked MS NOW’s best day ever on YouTube, with a record 33.2 million views. MS NOW also ranked as the #1 news organization on the platform, ahead of CNN and Fox News, and recorded 2.5 times more views than ABC News, CBS News, and NBC News combined.
The inaugural VelshiCast and the first-ever MS NOW Election Night Q&A from the Members Lounge contributed to MS NOW’s record-breaking day on YouTube, recording more than 5.4 million views and 1 million views, respectively.
More than two million unique visitors turned to ms.now on Election Day, up 123% from the 2022 midterms and 46% versus the 2018 midterms. With over eight million page views, it was also the website’s eleventh-best day on record for page views, up 120% from 2022 and 54% from 2018.
MS NOW MEMBERS AT THE CENTER OF 2026 MIDTERM ELECTION COVERAGE WITH LIVE Q&A AND ELECTION NIGHT WATCH PARTIES IN ATLANTA AND HOUSTON
While MS NOW delivered wall-to-wall coverage on television, online, and across social, for the first time in the network’s history, it put its community and growing Membership at the center of the action through all-new interactive features and at watch parties across the country. Being together with the MS NOW Community – whether in person or online – set MS NOW’s coverage plans apart as a community-centered Election Night.
The MS NOW Members Live Q&A, a central feature of the network’s direct-to-consumer product, was brought to a new level on Election Night with a three-hour continuous feed where the MS NOW community contributed more than 6,300 comments and questions across platforms during the Q&A.
MS NOW also hosted two Members Lounge Election Night watch parties, bringing its Members together for historic race calls. Antonia Hylton reported live from the Atlanta watch party at The Painted Pin bowling alley, while Alicia Menendez reported live from the Houston watch party at Rooftop Cinema Club, where viewers watched results roll in on the big screen.
YESTERDAY MARKED MS NOW’S FIRST ELECTION AS AN INDEPENDENT, STANDALONE NEWS ORGANIZATION
The 2026 midterm elections marked MS NOW’s first as an independent news network where the organization dispatched its own award-winning reporters across the country to cover turnout in battleground states and key races. Over the past year, the network has hired more than 200 journalists and built an independent newsgathering operation, including a Washington Bureau, Political Unit, and Election Desk.
More than 18 reporters across 10 states brought audiences the latest developments from critical battlegrounds, including Vaughn Hillyard, Nnamdi Egwuonwu and Antonia Hylton in Georgia; Akayla Gardner in North Carolina; Laura Barrón-López in Ohio; Will McDuffie in Maine; Chris Jansing and Mychael Schnell in Michigan; Jacob Soboroff, Jake Traylor and Rosa Flores in Texas; Alex Tabet in Iowa; Jillian Frankel in Arizona; Kevin Frey in Kansas; David Noriega in Alaska; and Paula Reid in Washington, D.C.
TV Source: Nielsen Preliminary National Panel Only Ratings, Live + Same Day, P2+ and A25-54 Average Minute Audience.
Digital Source: YouTube data based on MS NOW Channel YouTube Studio Analytics, November 3rd, 2026. YouTube video views. MS NOW YouTube Studio Analytics compared to competitor data from ListenFirst. Adobe Analytics for internal user and page views across web and app.
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