Overnight ratings show that the first night of the Kamala Harris Democratic convention drew 21% more viewers than the first night of Trump’s Republican convention.
Fox Sports /Fox Entertainment analytics boss Michael Mulvihill posted:
Overnight ratings for Night One of the conventions. Seven networks combined:
DNC – 11.4 (10p-12:15a)
RNC – 9.4 (10-11p)
Difference: 21%
Top ten markets for President Biden’s speech to the DNC:
Philadelphia – 13.7
San Francisco – 13.7
Chicago – 13.4
Sacramento – 13.3
West Palm – 13.2
Milwaukee – 13.0
Denver – 12.7
Pittsburgh – 12.4
New York – 12.3
Minneapolis / Kansas City – 12.0
That DNC lead will likely narrow in the final national viewership and could even be erased, though that seems unlikely. The overnights reflect 44 major metro areas.
With Kamala Harris surging in the polls, drawing big crowds, and having all of the momentum, it would have been a shock if the first night of her convention didn’t fare better than night one of Trump’s convention.
Convention viewership doesn’t win elections. Those viewers who are interested in Kamala Harris and the Democrats still need to be persuaded to vote for her. Still, the viewership numbers indicate public interest and potential enthusiasm.
Trump is already worried that Kamala Harris is going to put up big ratings numbers for the Democratic convention, which would be another blow to the ex-president’s ego as he sees himself as the ratings draw and the star.
Final ratings will be released later today for night one of the Democratic convention, but the first night went well for Democrats as they seem to have viewers in several critical swing state markets paying attention and interested in the Harris-Walz ticket.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
