The huge wave of news viewers created by the 2016 presidential election continues to grow, busting all assumptions that they'd disappear after Inauguration Day, according to new Nielsen news viewership numbers.

Last year, viewership spiked 18 percent as adults spent an average of 73.5 billion minutes a week watching or reading news in 2016, said Nielsen's latest report.



And it is still growing, according to Glenn Enoch, Nielsen senior vice president of of audience insights. " Spoiler alert," he wrote in his new report. "The year is starting with even more news viewing/listening/reading than the 2016 average."

Credit online news and cable TV for the surge.

Those reading and watching news on smartphones and computers surged 33 percent, said Nielsen. And cable viewership jumped 30 percent. On average, said the media watchdog, Americans spent 27.1 billion minutes watching Fox, CNN and MSNBC. In 2015, the average was 18.8 billion minutes weekly.

Broadcast news, however, saw a tiny increase in viewership.

Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner's "Washington Secrets" columnist, can be contacted at pbedard@washingtonexaminer.com