Biden Draws 24.6M Viewers to Last Night of Convention

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Highest rated night still down 5% from 2016

Joe Biden closed out the Democratic National Convention Thursday night (Image credit: NYT)

The final night of the Democratic National Convention on Thursday drew 24.6 million viewers, down 5% from four years ago, but the most viewed evening of this year’s event according to Nielsen.

With Joe Biden addressing the country, the virtual convention drew a 15.6 household rating, down from a 16.6 in 2016.

There were 1.5 million viewers in the 18- to 34-year-old demographic, down from 2.4 four years ago, and 17.1 million people 55 and up, down from 15.4.

Nielsen’s ratings cover 10 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. ET, which 12 networks aired live coverage.

MSNBC had the most total viewers with 6.1 million during the 10 pm.-11:15 p.m. ET time period. CNN had 5.6 million viewers and Fox News Channel had 3 million. 

Among the broadcasters, ABC had 3 million viewers, followed by NBC with 2.2 million and CBS with 2 million.

In the 25-54 demo, used by most news advertisers, CNN had 1.7 million viewers, followed by MSNBC at 1.2 million, ABC with 799,000, Fox News with 639,000, NBC with 568,000, and CBS with 473 million.

Jon Lafayette
Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.