While Saturday’s Democratic debate didn’t pull in huge ratings, CBSN, the digital news arm of CBS, managed to set record viewership this past weekend. It’s a big sign that during major breaking news events, such as the Paris terrorist attacks last Friday, viewers are inclined to tune in, anywhere. Who wasn’t on their mobile device or glued to the television this weekend as news broke? Nancy Lane, senior executive producer, CBS News Digital says that
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 likeSaturday’s Democratic presidential debate. 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.
It wasn’t just news from Europe but also the Democratic debate. CBSN drove 1.2 million streams across all platforms on Saturday night during the debate. Viewers spent an average of 82 minutes each watching CBSN on connected TV devices, 37 minutes on PCs, and 24 minutes on mobile devices.
The digital network is available on most devices like Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, Roku players and Roku TV models, and Xbox One.