Democratic National Convention Draws 20 Million Viewers on Opening Night, Outpacing Republican Convention

The Democratic National Convention (DNC) kicked off with a strong start, drawing 20 million viewers across various networks on its first night, according to Nielsen ratings. This impressive figure surpasses the viewership numbers from each of the initial three nights of the recent Republican National Convention (RNC), which attracted 18.1 million, 14.8 million, and 18 million viewers, respectively. The final night of the RNC, highlighted by a speech from former President Donald Trump, garnered an average of 25.4 million viewers and peaked at 28.4 million.

Nielsen’s viewership estimate includes coverage from a wide array of networks such as ABC, CBS, NBC, Scripps News, Univision, CNN, CNNe, FOX Business, FOX News Channel, MSNBC, Newsmax, NewsNation, and PBS.

This year’s DNC is being held in Chicago, with the first night featuring notable speeches from President Joe Biden and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Biden, who had previously withdrawn from the presidential race in July, took the stage to support Vice President Kamala Harris and reflect on his own political journey. He quoted the song “American Anthem,” echoing sentiments from his 2021 inaugural speech, as he vowed to support Harris as the “best volunteer.”

Clinton, who faced Trump in the 2016 presidential election, used her platform to criticize the former president. She pointedly remarked on Trump’s legal troubles, stating, “Donald Trump fell asleep at his own trial. When he woke up, he made his own kind of history, the first person to run for president with 34 felony convictions.” Clinton also endorsed Harris, emphasizing the need to counteract misinformation and support the vice president, stating, “It still takes a village to raise a family, heal a country, and win a campaign.”