DNC Ratings Blow RNC Out of the Water for Third Night in a Row
About 20.1 million people tuned in to watch the Democrats’ conference on Wednesday—roughly 11% more than the RNC’s third day.
Brendan McDermid
The Democratic National Convention garnered better ratings than its Republican counterpart for the third night in a row, according to data from industry research firm Nielsen.
About 20.1 million people tuned in to watch the Democrats’ conference on Wednesday, Nielsen confirmed—the third night in a row the broadcast reached more than 20 million viewers.
Wednesday’s speakers included Treasury Secretary Pete Buttigieg, former President Bill Clinton, and an acceptance speech for the vice presidential nomination from Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
The RNC attracted about 17.9 million viewers on the third night of its broadcast—a roughly 11% difference from the DNC’s third day—which featured a primetime speech from vice presidential nominee Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio.
However, the RNC’s most successful night was Thursday, July 18—when an average of 25.3 million Americans tuned in to the broadcast. The highlight of the night was former President Donald Trump’s highly anticipated acceptance speech—his first major address after the attempted assassination in Butler, Pennsylvania. Viewership peaked while Trump was on stage, attracting a whopping 28.4 million viewers.
Privately, Trump has been bragging about his RNC ratings, calling them “tremendous,” Rolling Stone reported on Monday before the convention began. Two anonymous sources told the magazine the former president has been grilling people in his orbit about whether Harris will top his ratings performance when she takes the stage on Thursday.
Despite the strong ratings from night to night, this year’s DNC has struggled to reach younger voters, with only 851,000 tuning in on the first night of the conference. In comparison, the first night of the 2016 DNC saw more than 2.4 million voters in the 18-34 demographic.
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However, each night’s broadcast has steadily added more younger viewers. Wednesday night saw 968,000 viewers in the age range—a 13% increase from the convention’s first night.
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