Ratings: 2008 Democratic National Convention

Ratings for the Democratic National Convention
August 25 - August 28, 2008

DAY 1 Monday, August 25th	10PM^Total Viewers NBC 4,850,000 CNN 4,240,000 ABC 3,780,000 CBS 3,520,000 FOX 2,720,000 MSNBC 2,098,000
	10PM^Adults 25-54 FOX 939,000 CNN 1,897,000 MSNBC 1,018,000
It was a good week for CNN. I'm only showing the 10PM hour above since that was the common time period that all of the networks aired convention coverage. CNN not only did well against other cable news networks, but was competitive with the broadcast networks as well. In total viewers, CNN was the top cable network and came in second during the 10PM hour against the combined broadcast and cable networks. CNN also had the largest number of Adults 25 -54 among the cable news networks. CNN’s average per hour for the night (7PM – MIDNIGHT) in the demo was 1,079,600 viewers and 2,936,200 total viewers. In comparison, MSNBC averaged 735,800 viewers in the demo and 1,852,200 total viewers during the same time frame. FOX only coded their 10PM hour as convention coverage.
DAY 2 Tuesday, August 26th	10PM^Total Viewers NBC 6,040,000 CNN 4,802,000 ABC 4,270,000 FOX 3,499,000 CBS 3,390,000 MSNBC 2,574,000
	10PM^Adults 25-54 FOX 827,000 CNN 1,567,000 MSNBC 894,000
The ranking on the second day of the convention was almost identical to the first day accept there were overall more viewers tuned in to the coverage. The one difference is that FOX edged out CBS in total viewers. CNN’s average per hour for the night (7PM – MIDNIGHT) in the demo was 1,178,800 viewers and 3,101,200 total viewers. In comparison, MSNBC averaged 708,000 viewers in the demo and 1,842,600 total viewers during the same time frame.
DAY 3 Wednesday, August 27th	10PM^Total Viewers NBC 5,630,000 CNN 5,375,000 CBS 3,590,000 ABC 3,310,000 FOX 2,572,000 MSNBC 2,270,000
	10PM^Adults 25-54 FOX 666,000 CNN 2,314,000 MSNBC 1,024,000
The third day of the convention still has NBC and CNN at the top in the ratings with the most total viewers during the 10PM hour. FOX dropped below both CBS and ABC. CNN’s average per hour for the night (7PM – MIDNIGHT) in the demo was 1,419,600 viewers and 3,446,000 total viewers. In comparison, MSNBC averaged 758,400 viewers in the demo and 1,859,000 total viewers during the same time frame.
DAY 4 Thursday, August 28th	10PM^Total Viewers CNN 8,056,000 NBC 6,269,000 ABC 5,727,000 CBS 4,459,000 FOX 4,229,000 MSNBC 4,097,000
	10PM^Adults 25-54 FOX 1,409,000 CNN 3,489,000 MSNBC 1,810,000
This doesn't happen very often but a cable news network, CNN, had the highest total viewers during the 10PM hour of the fourth day of the convention beating all three broadcast news networks. This was the first time that CNN has ever accomplished this. Another interesting note, it was a historical night in more than one way: Sen. Obama's acceptance speech takes the title of "most watched convention speech". CNN’s average per hour for the night (7PM – MIDNIGHT) in the demo was 1,912,600 viewers and 4,648,400 total viewers. In comparison, MSNBC averaged 1,003,000 viewers in the demo and 2,448,400 total viewers during the same time frame.

One other note regarding CNN's coverage of the convention. They are the only network to increase their total viewers each night of the convention. All of the other networks saw a dip in their viewers on Wednesday night compared to Tuesday night.

Over the last few weeks, FOX has dominated the ratings in both total cable news network viewers and the demo. During the DNC convention, they saw their ratings in the demo slip to third against both CNN and MSNBC. It will be interesting to see how things turn out when we take a look at the Republican National Convention coverage ratings next week.

^{^} Courtesy Nielsen Media Research; Demographics where noted; Live + Same Day (LS) Fast Track Nationals.


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