Republican Convention Night 3 Down Sharply Overall From DNC, But Fox News Continues Ratings Dominance

Fox News’ coverage on the Republican National Conventions’s third night netted them another win over their cable news and broadcast competitors, though the overall audience across the major networks combined dipped sharply from night three of the DNC.

According to early Nielsen Media Research data, Fox News romped in the the total viewership numbers from ABC, CBS and NBC, plus their cable news competitors at CNN and MSNBC. The network drew 7.066 million viewers in the 10 p.m. hour, with 1.383 million in the advertiser-coveted adults 25-54 demo. By comparison, CNN got 1.515 million with 487,000 in the A25-54 demo, and MSNBC got only 1.480 million with 311,000 in the A25-54 range.

Among the broadcast networks during the 10 p.m. hour, NBC News scored the highest both in overall viewers and the 25-54 demographic (1.966 million and 595,000 respectively). This was followed by ABC News (1.895 million, 534,000) and then CBS (1.781 million, 497,000).

The third night of the RNC saw speeches from notable figures including outgoing White House adviser Kellyanne Conway, President Donald Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, former acting DNI chief Richard Grenell, and Vice President Mike Pence. Pence’s speech was the headliner for the evening, and as his speech helped propel Fox to its big numbers in the 10-11:15 p.m. window.

While Fox News has ruled the roost in the ratings department over the first three days of the RNC, the networks combined have yet to match the audience they saw during the DNC. In aggregate, approximately 15.7 million watched the major cable and broadcast networks last night. But when former president Barack Obama and Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) spoke on this night last week, the DNC drew an overall viewership of 20.5 million.