ABC’s 9pm to 11pm coverage of the U.S. presidential election results was the top-rated primetime telecast on Election Night, Tuesday, November 4, 2008.
NBC’s 8pm to 11:30pm coverage of the voting results claimed second place, and ABC’s 8pm to 9pm Election Night coverage rounded out the top three.
Election returns coverage on CBS, FOX, and Univision dominated the rest of the top ten.
| Rank | Program | Network | Viewers (P2+) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | VOTE 2008-9:00PM(S)-11/04/2008 | ABC | 14,185,000 |
| 2 | DECISION ’08 PRIME(S)-11/04/2008 | NBC | 12,462,000 |
| 3 | VOTE 2008-8:00PM(S)-11/04/2008 | ABC | 11,206,000 |
| 4 | CAMPAIGN 2008 ELECT 3(S)-11/04/2008 | CBS | 7,410,000 |
| 5 | YOU DECIDE 2008(S)-11/04/2008 | FOX | 4,733,000 |
| 6 | DESTINO 2008 7 11/4(S)-11/04/2008 | UNI | 4,535,000 |
| 7 | DESTINO 2008 8 11/4(S)-11/04/2008 | UNI | 4,474,000 |
| 8 | DESTINO 2008 6 11/4(S)-11/04/2008 | UNI | 4,365,000 |
| 9 | DESTINO 2008 5 11/4(S)-11/04/2008 | UNI | 3,669,000 |
| 10 | DESTINO 2008 4 11/4(S)-11/04/2008 | UNI | 3,505,000 |
| Source: The Nielsen Company (November 4, 2008). |
Overall, ABC won the night with an average audience of just over 13.2 million viewers, while NBC took second place with almost 12.5 million average viewers. CBS and FOX claimed third and fourth places with roughly 7.4 million and 4.7 million average viewers, respectively. Univision and the CW followed in fifth and sixth places with average audiences of roughly 4 million and 2.4 million average viewers, respectively.
