The Democratic National Convention faced criticism for its late start times, with high-profile speakers such as President Joe Biden taking the stage well past prime time on the East Coast. Despite this, viewership numbers released by Nielsen indicated that the convention still attracted a significant number of viewers. The night when former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama spoke drew the largest audience, with over 21.9 million people tuning in. Interestingly, audiences did not seem to mind the late start times for these speeches, indicating that the content was engaging enough to hold viewers’ attention.
While some Biden allies expressed disappointment with the late start of his speech, media personalities and organizers of the event explained that it was due to the enthusiastic applause from the audience in the earlier parts of the evening. Nonetheless, organizers seemed to take this feedback into account, with Vice President Kamala Harris taking the stage earlier in the evening to deliver her highly anticipated speech. Despite the late start times, the convention drew strong viewership numbers compared to the Republican National Convention, with Fox News trailing behind both MSNBC and CNN in total viewers and the 25-49 demographic.
Overall, the Democratic National Convention saw higher viewership numbers in its first three nights compared to the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. However, the final night of the RNC, which featured former President Donald Trump’s speech, attracted a peak of 28.4 million viewers, surpassing the numbers seen during the DNC. It is clear that the scheduling of high-profile speakers is crucial in attracting and retaining viewers, and organizers will need to take these considerations into account for future events. Despite the late start times, the DNC was able to draw in a significant number of viewers, indicating the public’s interest in the content and messages being presented by the Democratic party.
