Fox News Beats MSNBC and All Three Broadcast Nets COMBINED on RNC Night 2, Total Audience Still Down From DNC
Fox News continued to break records with the highest-rated second-day coverage of any convention on night two of the RNC, which drew 18 million viewers across all six networks — down slightly from the 18.66 million who watched night two of the DNC.
Fox News, again, drew the largest audience during second night of the virtual RNC, according to early Nielsen Media Research, beating both broadcast and fellow cable news networks MSNBC and CNN. In fact, the network topped MSNBC, ABC, NBC, and CBS combined.
During the 8:30-11 p.m. hours, Fox News had a total of 7.565 million viewers, an incredible number that beat their record-breaking 6.98 million the night before. CNN racked up 2.064 million viewers and MSNBC trailed behind the two with an audience of 1.723 million.
Fox News also romped over CNN and MSNBC in the all-important adults 25-54 demographic, with 1.483 million viewers. 600,000 in the demo watched CNN, while 365,000 in the demo watched MSNBC.
Fox News also dominated the ratings in the 10 p.m. hour — which featured speeches from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and First Lady Melania Trump. The network had 7.908 million total viewers while CNN drew 2.126 million and MSNBC had an audience of 1.877 million.
Among the broadcast networks during the 10 p.m. hour, NBC News got the most viewers overall and in the 25-54 demographic (2.495 million, 684,000) followed by ABC News followed (2.097 million, 561,000) with CBS News lagging behind (1.515 million, 362,000).
Fox’s Sean Hannity broke from his usual coverage during the 9 p.m. hour and mainly stuck with the convention instead of going back-and-forth between speeches and analysis, as he did on Monday. His 9 p.m. time slot on Fox racked up 7.687 million viewers, up from his 6.838 million on Monday night. CNN had an audience of 2.124 million during that hour while MSNBC trailed with 1.619 million.
Overall, approximately 18 million people combined watche 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. coverage Tuesday on the major broadcast and cable outlets. That’s up from Monday night’s 15.8 million, but down slightly from night two of the DNC, which drew an audience of 18.66 million.
