CNN-News18 breaks into YouTube’s global top five during US midterms – Indian Television Dot Com

CNN-News18 breaks into YouTube’s global top five during US midterms  Indian Television Dot Com

MUMBAI: The midterm race had plenty of contenders, but CNN-News18 found itself in a different kind of top-five finish. The Indian news channel emerged as the only Indian platform among the world’s five most-viewed YouTube channels covering the 2026 US Midterm Elections, drawing 7.5 million views in the first 24 hours of coverage. According to data from the YouTube Data API, CNN-News18 secured a place among the top five out of 217 channels tracked worldwide. Its coverage stood alongside that of major international news organisations, including CNN, MS NOW, NBC News, Associated Press and CBS News. The comparison covered videos published or livestreamed between 10:40 GMT on 3 November and 10:40 GMT on 4 November 2026.

The tracking exercise drew on 20 searches related to the midterms, along with UK news channels. Videos were counted where their titles or descriptions related to the elections, while stories led by other developments, such as US strikes on Iran, were excluded. The view counts were recorded at 10:40 GMT on 4 November and represent total views, not unique viewers. The source also cautioned that totals could shift by a few per cent depending on classification, with close rankings such as CNN and MS NOW, and Sky and (TV), best read as near-level. The channel's performance was not limited to the overall view count.