Democrats swept the midterms. Millions watched on livestreams with their favorite influencers
XLC•Election-related livestreams drew 10.27 million hours of viewing across more than 2,500 channels in the 30 days before the November 3 vote, 4.5 times the total ahead of the 2022 midterms. Hasan Piker’s stream accounted for nearly 45% of total watch time.
1. Livestream audiences grow
The Democratic midterm sweep highlighted livestreaming as a growing arena for media audiences, with independent creators drawing viewers alongside established broadcasters. A nearly 11-hour election-night stream featuring data analyst Steve Kornacki drew 29 million views across platforms and peaked at more than 300,000 concurrent viewers.
2. Piker draws viewers
Hasan Piker’s election-night Twitch stream peaked at 241,783 concurrent viewers and generated 1.75 million hours of viewing, making it the second-most-watched individual broadcast that night. Traditional television still had larger broadcast audiences: NBC averaged 6.8 million primetime viewers, ABC 5.1 million and Fox News about 4 million. Some 38% of Americans aged 18 to 29 regularly get news from social media influencers, compared with 8% of those 65 and older, a 2025 survey found.
