TV Ratings: Republican Convention Finishes High but Down Slightly Overall vs. 2020

TV Ratings: Republican Convention Finishes High but Down Slightly Overall vs. 2020

As a dedicated gamer and media consumer with a deep interest in politics and television ratings, I’ve been closely following the numbers coming out of the Republican National Convention (RNC) this week. The closing night of the RNC, featuring Donald Trump’s acceptance speech, drew a larger audience than the final night four years ago. With an average of 25.38 million viewers across 14 channels, it was a notable improvement over the previous year.


The final night of the Republican National Convention in 2020 attracted more viewers on television than any other night that week. This audience was even bigger than the one during the RNC’s closing night four years prior. Nevertheless, it didn’t manage to surpass the overall viewership numbers from 2020.

On Thursday night, the collective viewership for the convention reached an average of 25.38 million people across 14 channels between 10 p.m. and 12:15 a.m. ET, based on Nielsen data. A large portion of this time was dedicated to Donald Trump’s third consecutive acceptance speech for the presidential nomination. Compared to the final night of the 2020 convention, there was an approximately 7% increase in viewership (23.81 million viewers across 13 channels). The highest number of viewers, around 28.4 million, tuned in between 10:45 and 11 p.m. ET, during the early part of Trump’s speech.

During the RNC’s four-night span, an average of 19.07 million viewers tuned in across multiple networks, just below the 19.39 million average from the previous year’s convention. Viewership for Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday showed modest increases compared to 2016. However, Tuesday’s audience of 14.81 million represented a significant drop of 24% compared to the same night in 2020. MLB’s All-Star Game, which aired on that day, might have contributed to the decrease in viewership.

Approximately 72% of the 18.36 million viewers who tuned in for Thursday’s coverage were aged 55 or above. This is similar to the demographic composition of the previous three days’ audiences, where around 75% were from this age group. Roughly 4.94 million viewers fell into the 35-54 age category, and there were about 1.35 million adults aged 18-34. Approximately 726,000 children and teenagers also watched.

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2024-07-20 01:25