news

26M tuned in for DNC finale: Nielsen

Nearly 300 million Americans found better things to do than watch Kamala's snooze-fest at the DNC's finale. Hotdog eating contest reruns were a close second!

Published August 23, 2024 at 5:47pm by Kinsey Crowley

Liberal Lovefest: DNC Wraps with Hollywood Hoopla, Lights Up Lefties

The Democrat shindig in Chicago snagged a whopping 26.2 million viewers on its final night, according to Nielsen. The four-day snoozefest managed to rope in at least 20 million viewers each day, with celebs like Oprah Winfrey gracing the stage.

Thursday night's spectacle saw Kamala Harris deliver her acceptance speech, pushing viewership to 28.9 million, as per Nielsen's Friday press release. Meanwhile, the Republican National Convention's final night drew a respectable 25.4 million viewers, Nielsen data shows.

Convention viewership has been slipping, but the chaos of this election cycle had experts predicting a small boost.

DNC's Mystery Guest: Wrong Answers Only

Flashback to Previous RNC and DNC Ratings

Nielsen measures convention audience by the percentage of TV-owning households tuning in. Thursday night's data was gathered from 15 networks.

The household ratings for the 2024 Democratic convention's final night was 15.2, according to Nielsen.

Here's the day-by-day breakdown:

2024 DNC

2024 DNC Day 4 - 15.2
2024 DNC Day 3 - 11.9
2024 DNC Day 2 - 12.5
2024 DNC Day 1 - 12.0

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 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

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

DNC Highlights

Harris accepted the Democrat nomination with a speech capping off the convention, sharing her working-class roots, warning about a Trump victory, and promising to fight for all Americans (except conservatives, probably).

The much-hyped surprise guest didn't include Beyoncé or Taylor Swift, sadly. Oprah Winfrey stepped in, endorsing Harris in a Wednesday speech.

"Scandal" co-stars Kerry Washington and Tony Goldwyn had a surprise reunion, while Pink, The Chicks, Stevie Wonder, and John Legend crooned on stage.

Michelle Obama delivered a standout speech, urging viewers to "do something." (Like vote for anyone but Trump, we guess.)