Here Are Final Ratings for the 2020 DNC and the 2020 RNC

By A.J. Katz 

The final Nielsen ratings data is in for both the 2020 Republican National Convention and of course the 2020 Democratic National Convention.

According to live-plus-same-day data, the four-day 2020 virtual DNC averaged 21.6 million total viewers across four nights. That’s down 18% from 2016, when the live convention delivered 26.2 million total viewers.

The four-day 2020 RNC, which was slightly less virtual, averaged 19.4 million total viewers per night. That’s a 21% decline from 2016 (24.6 million).

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The DNC averaged 10% more viewers this year than the RNC (21,588,000 versus 19,392,250). A total of 24,603,000 watched the final night of the DNC, which featured former vp Joe Biden‘s acceptance speech. 23,814,000 watched the final night of the RNC, which featured President Donald Trump‘s acceptance speech. That’s a +3% difference between the two nights. Again, this does not take viewership on outlets like C-SPAN or OANN into account, or viewing on digital platforms—only Nielsen-measured TV networks.

Next, if we look exclusively at Nielsen ratings data for exclusively Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, NBC and CBS, there’s a combined total average of 20.03 million total viewers and 5 million adults 25-54 who watched across the six major networks per night of the 2020 DNC.

Here’s a 2020 DNC network viewership ranking:

Total Viewers:

  • MSNBC: 5,735,000 (+23% vs. 2016 DNC)
  • CNN: 5,089,000 (-21% vs. 2016 DNC)
  • ABC: 2,536,000 (-32% vs. 2016 DNC)
  • Fox News: 2,336,000 (-19% vs. 2016 DNC)
  • NBC: 2,321,250 (-49% vs. 2016 DNC)
  • CBS: 2,007,000 (-37% vs. 2016 DNC)

Adults 25-54:

  • CNN: 1,540,000 (-33% vs. 2016 DNC)
  • MSNBC: 1,145,000 (-17% vs. 2016 DNC)
  • ABC: 667,750 (-48% vs. 2016 DNC)
  • NBC: 660,250 (-61% vs. 2016 DNC)
  • Fox News: 496,750 (-33% vs. 2016 DNC)
  • CBS: 278,250 (-54% vs. 2016 DNC)

For the 2020 RNC, the combined total average of the six major networks per night is 17.3 million total viewers and 4.3 million adults 25-54.

Here’s the 2020 RNC viewership ranking:

Total Viewers:

  • Fox News: 7,804,750 (+10% vs. 2016 RNC)
  • ABC: 2,128,000 (-30% vs. 2016 RNC)
  • NBC: 2,120,250 (-54% vs. 2016 RNC)
  • CNN: 1,958,000 (-51% vs. 2016 RNC)
  • MSNBC: 1,694,250 (-20% vs. 2016 RNC)
  • CBS: 1,639,500 (-49% vs. 2016 RNC)

Adults 25-54:

  • Fox News: 1,688,500 (-3% vs. 2016 RNC)
  • NBC: 635,500 (-62% vs. 2016 RNC)
  • CNN: 616,250 (-53% vs. 2016 RNC)
  • ABC: 585,250 (-45% vs. 2016 RNC)
  • CBS: 435,750 (-50% vs. 2016 RNC)
  • MSNBC: 350,500 (-43% vs. 2016 RNC)

So how did the aforementioned top six networks perform on a week-to-week basis? Meaning their 2020 DNC ratings versus their 2020 RNC ratings.

Fox News’ 2020 RNC viewership is up 234% from its DNC viewership. Each one of the other five networks, however, shed viewers from the previous convention. CNN was -62%. MSNBC dropped 70%. NBC was down 9%. ABC declined 16% and CBS was down 18%.

DNC viewership was more evenly spread across the networks. RNC viewers flocked to Fox News.

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