ABC News topped all the networks with their election coverage on Tuesday night:

As a result, ABC's elections coverage was seen by 9.7 million people, according to Nielsen Media Research. NBC had 7 million viewers and CBS 6.3 million, Nielsen said.

Overall, including network and cable viewers, a total of 31.4 million people watched midterm elections coverage Tuesday, up from the 26.3 million who watched in 2002, Nielsen said.

Charles Gibson has turned out to be an excellent replacement for the late Peter Jennings. The numbers suggest that while Katie Couric was trusted to deliver her slant on the news over a cup of coffee, her gravitas as an anchorwoman has yet to be established.

Perennial winner Fox News topped CNN, and the poor-showing MSNBC, to hold the edge in the cable news wars.