Midterms deliver ratings surge

In a big night for television news, 36.1 million people watched the Tuesday evening coverage of the midterm elections, according to Nielsen.

ABC, CBS and NBC replaced sitcoms and police procedurals to fill their 8 to 11 p.m. slates with results.

Fox News led all channels with 7.8 million viewers in prime time Tuesday, according to Nielsen, and it was the first network to call the House of Representatives for the Democrats. That projection came at 9:33 p.m., roughly 50 minutes before any competitors made the call.

NBC had the largest broadcast network audience, with 5.7 million viewers. CNN finished in second place among the cable networks, drawing an audience of 5.1 million.

The overall audience was greater than the number that tuned in to any of the four previous midterm elections. The audience number in 2010, an election in which Republicans made huge gains, was 34.9 million. In 2006, a wave election for Democrats, 31.4 million were watching, and 26.3 million tuned in in 2002.

SeaWorld could be sold to Six Flags

SeaWorld would not comment this week on a report Six Flags is looking to buy it.

Blogger Themed Reality reported Six Flags Entertainment is in talks to buy all or some of SeaWorld Entertainment’s parks — a portfolio that includes SeaWorld Orlando, the Aquatica Orlando water park and Busch Gardens Tampa Bay.

The report emerges after SeaWorld posted strong financials for the third quarter in a row Monday. A Six Flags spokeswoman did not return requests for comment Tuesday.

Attendance is up at SeaWorld parks and the $2.2 billion company has said it is investing in new attractions.