The election results weighed heavily last week on “The View” hosts — and perhaps its viewers as well, as they tuned in en masse to give the daytime talker its best week-long ratings in more than three and a half years. According to ABC analysis of Nielsen data, “The View” averaged 3.078 million viewers during the week of Nov. 4, making it the No. 1 show among daytime network talk and news shows.
Specifically on Wednesday, Nov. 6 — the day after the election — “The View” attracted 4.470 million viewers, which made it the show’s most-watched episode since Barbara Walters’ farewell episode on May 16, 2014.
As Variety reported on that episode, “The View” hosts Whoopi Goldberg, Sara Haines, Sunny Hostin, Ana Navarro, Joy Behar and Alyssa Farah Griffin spent that episode reacting to Donald Trump‘s victory over Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election. Concern and fear swept the desk, as Hostin noted that she was “profoundly disturbed” by the news.
“If you look at The New York Times this morning, the headline was ‘America Makes a Perilous Choice.’ I think in 2016 we didn’t know what we would get from a Trump administration. We know now. We know now he will have almost unfettered power,” she said.
For the week of Nov. 4, “The View” also ranked No. 1 in households (2.07 rating), and also averaged 270,000 women 25-54 and 193,000 women 18-49, according to Nielsen’s live+same day data.
In households and total viewers, the show bested NBC’s “Today Third Hour” (1.30 household rating and 1.926 million viewers), “Today with Hoda & Jenna” (0.90 household rating and 1.284 million viewers) “NBC News Daily” (0.84 household rating and 1.222 million viewers) and CBS’ “The Talk” (0.87 household rating and 1.293 million viewers).
Week-to-week, “The View” was up 14% in total viewers (3.078 million vs. 2.689 million), up 21% with women 25-54 (270,000 vs. 158,000) and up 22% with women 18-49, hitting season highs for the second week in a row.
Year-to-year, “The View” was up 24% in total viewers (3.078 million vs. 2.489 million), up 22% with women 25-54 (270,000 vs. 221,000) and up 33% with women 18-49 (270,000 vs. 145,000). This season, “The View” has been up year-to-year in nine of ten weeks. All told, the show is up 9% in total viewers (2.614 million vs. 2.406 million) season to date compared to last year. “The View” also continues to be No. 1 in households and total viewers among daytime talk shows and news programs for the fifth straight season, according to ABC.
