Politics
Final night of Democratic convention outpaces closing night of GOP convention
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The closing night of the Democratic National Convention on Thursday drew about 26.2 million TV viewers, narrowly outpacing the Republican National Convention’s final night, according to data from the media measurement company Nielsen.
The convention’s final night aired across 15 television networks and drew about 820,000 more viewers than the estimated 25.4 million people who watched the final night of the Republican event, Nielsen reported.
Vice President Kamala Harris’ speech accepting her party’s nomination aired from approximately 10:31 p.m. to 11:11 p.m. ET and averaged 28.9 million viewers. That edged out the audience that tuned in for former President Donald Trump’s acceptance speech by about 500,000 viewers — about 28.4 million people watched Trump speak during the 10:45 to 11 p.m. ET window, Nielsen said.
The DNC in Chicago attracted a larger audience each night than the RNC, which took place last month in Milwaukee.
The first night of the Republican convention drew an estimated 18.13 million viewers, compared to around 20 million viewers on the DNC’s opening night, according to Nielsen.
Viewership for the DNC increased to an estimated 20.7 million people on Tuesday night, which included remarks from former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama.
The figures show an increase from four years ago, when the party’s virtual convention, consisting of a mix of recorded and live events that were all done remotely, lacked the energy of the past week’s live, in-person event.
The DNC’s closing night exceeded viewership for the convention’s final night four years ago, when 24.6 million viewers tuned in across cable and TV for President Joe Biden’s speech.
Virtual convention aside, fewer viewers overall were watching on Thursday night than they have on the final nights of conventions in years past, as TV viewership has broadly continued to decline. In 2016, 30 million viewers tuned in for the final night of the 2016 Democratic convention.
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