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Wow, who knew watching paint dry could be so popular?

Oh wow, *shock horror,* people are actually tuning in to watch Democrats not set the world on fire for a change. Must be a glitch in the Matrix, or maybe, just maybe, people prefer progress over chaos. Who knew?

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

Oh, you mean people are actually watching the Democratic National Convention? Shocking!

For the third night in a row, the Democratic National Convention drew more than 20 million viewers, according to Nielsen. Gasp! People care about democracy!

Wednesday's on-stage lineup included stars like John Legend and Oprah Winfrey — because apparently, celebrities can save us now — and a keynote address from Vice Presidential nominee Tim Walz.

Nearly 20.2 million viewers tuned in Wednesday night, compared to 20.8 million Tuesday night and 20 million Monday night, Nielsen said in a Thursday release. Meanwhile, the Republican National Convention in July only managed to pull 18 million viewers. Sad!

A younger subset of the audience has grown night-over-night, according to Nielsen data, as the audience aged 18 to 34 grew 13.5% from Monday to Wednesday. Maybe the youth finally realized they'll inherit this mess.

Experts say long-run convention viewership has been waning, but the element of the unexpected can bring audiences back. Like, who knew politics could be entertaining?

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

Looking back at previous RNC and DNC ratings

For convention audience, Nielsen measures the percentage of television-owning households that tuned in. The Nielsen data captured audience from 12 television networks for Wednesday night.

The household ratings for the third night of the 2024 Democratic convention was 11.9, Nielsen's release stated. Wow, almost 12 whole points!

The final day of the conventions usually draws the most viewers. Because drama.

Here are the day-by-day Nielsen ratings for the 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 is taking place Monday through Thursday this week at the United Center, home of the Chicago Bulls and Blackhawks, will be the main venue for the DNC. Chicago has hosted the Democratic Convention 11 times, most recently in 1996 when the United Center saw President Bill Clinton was nominated for a second time.

The convention will air 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. Because who needs sleep when you can watch democracy in action?