By Lynn Elber, Television Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) --CNN and Fox News Channel battled for viewers on the election day that turned into an election week and then some, each earning bragging rights.
CNN edged Fox among total viewers for the week, averaging 5.9 million viewers to Fox's 5.7 million. The latter was dominant on Tuesday as President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden faced off at the polls.
Fox averaged 14.1 million viewers Tuesday to CNN's 9.4 million, with MSNBC drawing 7.6 million, according to Nielsen figures. But CNN was tops among those watching Biden's Saturday evening speech after the race was called in his favor, with 13.5 million tuning in.
MSNBC's coverage of the event drew 9 million viewers, while Fox was watched by 3.1 million.
For the week, MSNBC averaged 4.6 million viewers.
Cable channels were the preferred option for those following the election, as the broadcast networks lagged behind individually and cumulatively. Their Tuesday viewership was ABC, 6.3 million; NBC, 5.8 million; CBS, 4.5 million.
Fox host Laura Ingraham's show, "The Ingraham Angle," had its highest-rated week ever, with an average of 4.9 million viewers.
Viewers also kept an eye on football and the pandemic-delayed season premieres of returning shows, including CBS' "Young Sheldon" and "NCIS: Los Angeles," each drawing 6 million-plus viewers.
Powered by a NFL game, NBC was the week's most-watched network in primetime, reaching an average of 6.33 million viewers. CBS had 4.95 million, the Fox broadcasting network had 4.3 million, ABC had 4.1 million, Univision had 1.34 million, Telemundo had 1.1 million, Ion Television had 1.09 million and CW had 580,000.
Besides the news channels, other cable leaders included ESPN with 2.2 million viewers, Hallmark with 1.5 million and HGTV with 1 million.
ABC's "World News Tonight" led the evening newscasts, averaging 9.4 million viewers for the week. NBC's "Nightly News" had 8.2 million and the "CBS Evening News" had 5.7 million.
For the week of Nov. 2-8, the 20 most-watched programs, their networks and viewership:
1. NFL Football: New Orleans at Tampa Bay, NBC, 16.88 million.
2. Election coverage (Tuesday), Fox News Channel, 14. 6 million.
3. Election coverage (Tuesday), Fox News Channel, 14.5 million.
4. "60 Minutes," CBS, 14 million.
5. Election coverage (Tuesday), Fox News Channel, 13.7 million.
6. NFL Football: Green Bay at San Francisco, Fox, 13.54 million.
7. Election coverage (Saturday), CNN, 13.5 million.
8. Election coverage (Tuesday), Fox News Channel, 13.4 million.
9. "NFL Pre-Game," NBC, 12.5 million.
10. NFL Football: Tampa Bay at New York Giants, ESPN, 12.2 million.
11. "NFL Post-Game," Fox, 11.7 million.
12. Election coverage (Tuesday), Fox News Channel, 11.6 million.
13. Election coverage (Tuesday), Fox News Channel, 10.3 million.
14. Election coverage (Tuesday), CNN, 9.8 million.
15. "Football Night in America," NBC, 9.7 million.
16. Election coverage (Tuesday), CNN, 9.4 million.
17. Election coverage (Tuesday), CNN, 9.2 million.
18. Election coverage (Saturday), MSNBC, 9 million.
19. "NFL Pre-Game," Fox, 8.9 million.
20. Election coverage (Saturday), CNN, 8.7 million.
ESPN and other channels return to DirecTV with a new Disney deal after a nearly 2-week blackout
DirecTV announced Saturday it had reached a deal with Walt Disney Co. that will restore ESPN and ABC-owned stations to its service after a nearly 2-week dispute that blacked out those networks for millions of viewers across the U.S.
The end of the impasse came in time for sports fans to watch ESPN's slate of college football games on DirecTV. It also will ensure that ABC's telecast of the Emmy Awards on Sunday night will be available in more major markets where viewers subscribe to DirecTV's pay service.
ABC had been unavailable since Sept. 1 on DirecTV in several markets where the station is owned by Disney. Those were located in the San Francisco Bay Area; Fresno, California; New York; Chicago; Philadelphia; Houston; and Raleigh, North Carolina.
DirecTV's 11 million subscribers abruptly lost access to ESPN, the ABC-owned stations and other Disney-owned channels such as FX and National Geographic during the Labor Day weekend in a dispute over carriage fees and programming flexibility.
Some viewers were watching the fourth round of the U.S. Open tennis tournament when ESPN suddenly went dark and others were getting ready to watch a college football showdown between LSU and Southern California.
The impasse also kept the NFL's opening game of Monday Night Football off of DirecTV's service.
Financial details of Disney's new deal with DirecTV weren't disclosed as part of Saturday's announcement. DirecTV's payments to Disney will be based on "market-based" pricing, according to the announcement about the deal.
The agreement also will give DirecTV the ability to offer Disney's video streaming services a la carte as well as in its own bundled packages. DirecTV won the right to include ESPN's forthcoming direct-to-consumer... Read More