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DNC Night 3 Draws Over 20 Million Viewers

Democratic National Convention attracts over 20 million viewers for third consecutive night, Nielsen reports.

Published August 22, 2024 at 6:05pm by Kinsey Crowley

DNC Viewership Tops 20 Million for Third Night

For the third consecutive night, the Democratic National Convention surpassed 20 million viewers, according to Nielsen. Wednesday's lineup featured notable figures like John Legend and Oprah Winfrey, along with a keynote address from Vice Presidential nominee Tim Walz.

Nielsen reported that nearly 20.2 million viewers tuned in on Wednesday night, following 20.8 million on Tuesday and 20 million on Monday. In contrast, the third night of the Republican National Convention in July drew nearly 18 million viewers.

Younger viewers, aged 18 to 34, saw a significant increase of 13.5% from Monday to Wednesday, according to Nielsen data. Experts suggest that while overall convention viewership has been declining, unexpected events can draw audiences back.

DNC Day 4: Live coverage of speaker schedule, Kamala Harris to take the stage

Comparing RNC and DNC Ratings

Nielsen measures the percentage of television-owning households tuning in for convention audiences. The data for Wednesday night was captured from 12 television networks.

The household ratings for the third night of the 2024 Democratic convention were 11.9, according to Nielsen. The final day of conventions usually attracts the most viewers.

Here are the day-by-day Nielsen ratings for recent conventions:

2024 RNC

2024 RNC Day 4 - 14.3
2024 RNC Day 3 - 10.6
2024 RNC Day 2 - 8.9
2024 RNC Day 1 - 10.6

2020 RNC

2020 RNC Day 4 - 14.7
2020 RNC Day 3 - 11.0
2020 RNC Day 2 - 12.2
2020 RNC Day 1 - 10.7

2020 DNC

2020 DNC Day 4 - 15.6
2020 DNC Day 3 - 14.6
2020 DNC Day 2 - 12.6
2020 DNC Day 1 - 12.7

How to Watch the Democratic National Convention

The convention runs Monday through Thursday this week at the United Center, home of the Chicago Bulls and Blackhawks. Chicago has hosted the Democratic Convention 11 times, most recently in 1996 for President Bill Clinton's second nomination.

View the convention live on its website from the United Center in Chicago between 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern (6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Central).

USA TODAY will provide livestream coverage on YouTube each night of the DNC, Monday through Thursday.