Democratic Convention TV Viewership Rises On Third Night With Barack Obama, Kamala Harris Speeches

August 20, 2020 11:25am

Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., speaks during the third day of the Democratic National Convention. AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster

Speeches from Barack Obama and Kamala Harris likely helped boost TV viewership for the third night of the Democratic National Convention.

According to early numbers from Nielsen, 21.4 million watched during the 10 PM ET hour across six networks, ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox News, MSNBC and CNN. That is a boost from the 18.6 million who watched on Tuesday and the 18.7 million who watched on Monday. The TV viewership is off by about 11% from the third night of the Democratic Convention in 2016.

The TV figures are based on data released by CNN. The Biden campaign has said that additional viewership on other streaming and social media platforms has risen this cycle and has pushed the number of people watching above levels from 2016.

MSNBC again led other networks, with 6.5 million viewers, followed by CNN with 5.791 million, NBC News with 2.5 million, ABC News with 2.4 million, Fox News with 2.2 million and CBS News with 2 million.

In the 25-54 demographic, CNN led with 1.7 million viewers, followed by MSNBC with 1.3 million, NBC News with 805,000, ABC News with 638,000, CBS News with 533,000 and Fox News with 480,000. The broadcast networks covered only the final hour of the convention.

During the 9 PM ET to 11 PM ET time frame, MSNBC had 6.2 million total viewers, CNN had 5.4 million and Fox News had 2.9 million. In the 25-54 demographic, CNN led with 1.6 million, followed by MSNBC with 1.2 million and Fox News with 599,000.