NEW YORK - An estimated 71.4 million Americans watched returns electing Republican Donald Trump the next president on prime-time television on Tuesday, narrowly missing a record set eight years ago on the night Democrat Barack Obama won his first term.
    
The Nielsen ratings company says 71.5 million watched election night in 2008.
    
Tuesday night was a fitting conclusion to a campaign that intrigued viewers for more than a year. Two of the three most-watched presidential debates in history were between Trump and Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton.
    
CNN was the most-watched network during those hours, followed by Fox News Channel and NBC.