Comparing the first night of both the Democratic and Republican conventions, the Democrats came out slightly ahead (though the ratings agency admitted to probable undercounting of ours since Bernie Sanders spoke past 11 PM, when they had stopped tracking).

Apparently, people liked what they saw on Monday, because the ratings disparity is now turning into a rout.

At least 24.3M people watched #DemsInPhilly from 10-11:15 Tues. Down a tick from Monday, but about 25% higher than day 2 of #RNCinCLE
— Joe Adalian (@TVMoJoe) July 27, 2016

An estimated 26 million viewers were tuned in to cable and broadcast coverage of the convention’s 10 p.m. ET slot that featured former White House occupant Bill Clinton making the case for his wife, Hillary Clinton, the first woman to receive a major party nomination for president. Nielsen will have an official figure late Wednesday afternoon.


In contrast, the featured hour for the second night of the Republican National Convention was watched by 19.8 million viewers on the ad-supported networks on July 19. An additional 1.3 million viewers watched on PBS.