As people around the world watched the results of the US presidential election, millions were glued to streaming and digital platforms.

Stream Charts, a database of live streaming statistics and analysis, reported total streaming data of 84 million total hours watched, with the largest share – 80.6% – YouTube. Online video platform Rumble, often a popular choice among conservatives, came in second with 13.1%. Fox News was the most popular live broadcast on YouTube, setting a record 1.14 million viewers, according to Stream Charts data. NBC News followed Fox with 616,900 peak viewers, according to the streaming report.

Nielsen on the other hand reported that traditional broadcast and cable viewers attracted 42 million viewers spread over 18 television networks, this number being from approximately 7:00 pm to 11:00 pm. That was down more than 25 percent from the 2020 election cycle, which drew 56.9 million prime-time viewers, according to Nielsen data. Fox News coverage, including Fox News Digital, topped all television networks with 13.6 million viewers, the company announced Wednesday. Fox’s digital platforms saw record engagement, marking the best day of 2020 in pageviews, media and minutes spent. The company reported that Fox News Digital secured 47.2 million live stream views between the evening and early morning hours.

Nazar Babenko, product manager at Streams Charts, said wealth live streaming platforms attract viewers because they allow round-trip. “It’s not just about watching anymore; people are actively debating and reacting in real time, reshaping the electoral discourse in the process,” Babenko said.

Even before the election, political events spurred greater engagement on live streaming platforms, he said. The number of political mentions on Amazon-owned live streaming platform Twitch in its chats has waxed and waned with the dynamics of the Republican and Democratic presidential campaigns. After Kamala Harris attended a town hall event on CNN, her mentions on Twitch increased by 39.5%. The September debate between Harris and Donald Trump peaked at 8 million concurrent viewers and 17 million hours watched globally, Babenko said. That catapulted streams of the debate ahead of other popular live streaming events, including Apple Event 2024, the North American professional League of Legends summer event and Call of Duty League 2024 playoffs.

In October, about 5,600 channels across eight platforms mentioned Donald Trump in nearly 24,000 stream titles, according to Stream Charts. The streams drove 49 million hours of content watched. Twitch, YouTube and Rumble streams had the highest frequency of Trump mentions, their analysis found.

“This evolution in political campaigning reflects a dynamic shift in which younger audiences — often reached through popular broadcasts or live debates — are shaping the future of democracy, right now, both in the United States and around the world,” Babenko said.

NBC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This story was originally presented on Fortune.com