Joe Biden’s formal acceptance of the Democratic Party’s nomination for president of the U.S. drew 21.8 million TV viewers Thursday night, a high for the four-night confab this year.
The audience, across six broadcast and cable news channels, rose slightly from Wednesday’s tally, according to preliminary Nielsen data provided by Fox Corp. Comcast’s Corp.’s MSNBC once again led, with 6.15 million total viewers. AT&T Inc.’s CNN came in second with 5.57 million. The broadcast began at 10 p.m. New York time. Nielsen will announce an updated total including more networks later Friday.
Biden accepted the nomination in a speech that focused on uniting a country wrestling with issues such as the coronavirus and systemic racism. Much of the program focused on the candidate’s life, including the death of his first wife and daughter in a car accident, and the loss of his son Beau to cancer.
“I found the best way through pain and loss and grief is to find purpose,” Biden said. “As God’s children, each of us have a purpose in our lives.”
Julia Louis-Dreyfus provided comic relief. Other speakers included Biden’s primary rivals -- New Jersey Senator Cory Booker and Michael Bloomberg, the majority owner of Bloomberg LP.
The audience for this year’s convention has been smaller than four years ago, when Hillary Clinton accepted the nomination. Overall, Americans are watching more video online and less on conventional TV. Biden’s campaign said that was the case Monday. This year’s event also had to cope with the absence of a live audience, which took away some of the drama.