Democratic National Convention Closing Night Draws Record Viewership

Workers prepare the convention floor at United Center before the Democratic National Convention Sunday, Aug. 18, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

The closing of the Democratic National Convention on Thursday garnered significant viewership, surpassing both the final night of the party's convention four years ago and the recent Republican convention in July. Vice President Kamala Harris accepted the party's nomination to lead the Democratic ticket against Republican nominee Donald Trump.

According to Nielsen figures, the coverage of the Democrats' closing night averaged 26.2 million viewers across 15 broadcast and cable networks. This figure exceeded the 25.38 million viewers who tuned in for the final night of the Republican National Convention. The total viewership on Thursday marked a substantial increase compared to the preceding three days of the Democratic convention, which averaged 20.33 million viewers.

The nightly viewership for the Democratic convention was consistent, with Monday drawing 20.03 million viewers, Tuesday bringing in 20.78 million, and Wednesday attracting 20.18 million across broadcast and cable networks. When factoring in Thursday's total, the convention's overall average viewership in primetime was 21.8 million, slightly higher than the 2020 convention's four-night average of 21.59 million viewers.

Vice President Kamala Harris accepted the Democratic nomination.

Democratic convention closing night surpassed Republican convention viewership.

Thursday's coverage averaged 26.2 million viewers across networks.

The Democratic National Convention's four-day average also outperformed the July Republican convention in TV viewership by a 14 percent margin, with the RNC averaging 19.07 million viewers over four nights. MSNBC emerged as the top network on Thursday, drawing the largest audience with 6.53 million viewers, followed by ABC (4.23 million) and CNN (3.94 million).

MSNBC also led in the core news demographic of adults 25-54, attracting 1.28 million viewers in that category. The viewership peaked during Vice President Kamala Harris' acceptance speech, which averaged about 28.9 million viewers, making her the first woman of color to clinch a major-party presidential nomination.

It is important to note that all figures mentioned are based on TV viewership and do not include streaming data. The Democratic National Convention on Thursday marked a significant milestone in terms of audience engagement and political interest.