RNC Night 1 Ratings Down Big Compared to DNC (But Fox News Scores Huge Numbers)
Night one of the virtual Republican National Convention drew 15.8 million viewers across six networks — down considerably from the viewership of night one of the Democratic National Convention, which drew 19 million viewers.
Fox News drew the largest audience during night one of the virtual RNC — and the most viewers ever for the first night of a convention — beating both broadcast and fellow cable news networks MSNBC and CNN.
During the 8:30-11 pm hours, Fox News had a total of 6.98 million viewers — a massive number — while CNN racked up 2.129 million viewers and MSNBC trailed behind the two with an audience of 1.743 million.
Fox News also romped over CNN and MSNBC in the all-important adults 25-54 demographic, with 1.382 million viewers. 591,000 in the demo watched CNN, while 352,000 in the demo watched MSNBC.
As it did during the DNC, Fox News stuck with regular programming until 10 p.m. But it dominated the ratings in that final hour — which featured speeches from Kimberly Guilfoyle, Donald Trump Jr., Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC). The network had 7.063 million total viewers while CNN had 2.009 million and MSNBC had an audience of 1.57.
Among the broadcast networks during the 10 p.m. hour, ABC News got more viewers overall (1.978 million) while NBC racked up the most in the 25-54 demographic (541,000). ABC News had an audience of 521,000 in that demographic while NBC had a total viewership of 1.74 million. CBS News lagged behind with 1.479 viewers overall and 424,000 in the 25-54 demographic.
Fox’s Sean Hannity pulled in his second highest total audience ratings ever during the 9 p.m. hour, racking up 6.838 million viewers for his coverage and analysis of the RNC. The show went back-and-forth between convention speeches and analysis. But more viewers decided they wanted the Hannity running commentary than the convention itself. CNN had an audience of 2.281 million during that hour while MSNBC trailed with 1.781 million.
Overall, approximately 15.8 million people combined watched 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. coverage Monday on the major broadcast and cable outlets. That’s down from the roughly 19 million who watched the first night of the DNC.
