BBC News attracts 3m with US election special

Future News exclusive

The BBC saw 3.3 million viewers tune into its US election coverage last night and into the early hours of the morning in the UK, FN has been told.

Viewers watched as Katty Kay (in Washington) and Andrew Neil (in London) hosted on BBC One and the BBC News Channel between 11.30pm and 2am GMT. A spokesperson for the BBC also revealed that the election night produced “above-average audiences” for The News at Ten and Newsnight

The election special saw Jon Sopel and Clive Myrie report from the Trump and Biden campaigns, while Emily Maitlis and Nick Bryant reported from crucial battleground states.

Radio 4 and the BBC World Service, meanwhile, simulcasted their election night programming hosted by Jamie Coomarasamy in Michigan, Nuala McGovern in northern California and Ros Atkins and Philippa Thomas anchoring from London. 

Elsewhere, BBC Radio 5 Live’s Anna Foster lead the station’s results night coverage and simulcasted Radio 4 and BBC World Service in the early hours. The BBC’s dedicated misinformation reporter Marianna Spring also provided analysis throughout the night.

FN, as part of its special US election coverage, has reached out to major news media outlets for viewership, listenership and readership figures as well as further analysis into how their election days and nights went. US broadcasters, as expected, have taken a cautious approach to their coverage, with several key states yet to be announced.

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Illustration: Freepik