CBSN sets viewership records

CBSN, CBS News’ digital streaming news network, set multiple viewership records over the past four days for its breaking news and debate coverage across connected TV devices, mobile and online platforms.

CBSN drew 2.3 million unique viewers and 4.9 million streams from Friday through Monday.

Viewers spent an average of 82 minutes each watching CBSN on connected TV devices, 37 minutes on PCs, and 24 minutes on mobile devices, according to a release issued by the network.

CBSN, which marked its one-year anniversary on Nov. 6, set new single-day viewership records on Saturday with 1.3 million unique viewers and 2.4 million streams across platforms. Saturday is now CBSN’s most-watched day since launch, while Friday ranks second, Sunday ranks third, and Monday ranks fourth.

“We are impressed by the demand we’ve seen across all digital platforms for the coverage CBSN offers around the clock in complement to CBS News broadcast programming,” said Christy Tanner, senior vice president and general manager, CBS News Digital, in the statement. “As we continue to expand our innovative live news content to more devices, we’re confident CBSN viewership and engagement will continue to grow.”

“We launched CBSN so viewers could watch CBS News anytime and anywhere. The records set over the weekend underscore how CBSN extends CBS News’ coverage of events like Saturday’s Democratic presidential debate,” said Nancy Lane, senior executive producer, CBS News Digital, in the release. “The viewership numbers also tell us that CBSN serves the needs of viewers during major breaking news events with live coverage on digital platforms, where nothing like this service had existed before.”

During its coverage of the debate, CBSN drew 1.2 million streams across platforms. CBSN offered a special stream of the debate, enhanced with real-time Twitter trends, instant reactions, curated Tweets and other key information onscreen.

CBSN is now available on leading connected TV devices including Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, Roku players and Roku TV models, and Xbox One, as well as the CBS News mobile apps for Android, iOS and Windows 8.1, and CBSNews.com on desktop and mobile.

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