Nielsen: 20 Million Watch DNC, Down From 2016

Night 1 ratings for the Democratic National Convention were up slightly from 2020 but down significantly from 2016, according to Nielsen.

The first night of the DNC drew an average of 20.3 million viewers Monday, ranking higher than the first night of the Republican National Convention (18.13 million).

Nielsen accounts for coverage on ABC (2.8 million), CBS (2 million), NBC (1.8 million), Scripps News, Univision, CNN (3.2 million), CNNe, Fox Business, Fox News Channel (2.4 million), MSNBC (4.6 million), Newsmax, NewsNation, and PBS. The numbers account for viewers between 9 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. CT.

The convention viewership is slightly up from 2020 (19.75 million viewers) but lower than 2016, when the DNC drew 25.95 million.

The key night for viewership will be Thursday when Vice President Kamala Harris delivers her acceptance speech for the Democratic presidential nominee.

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