The fourth and final day of the 2024 Democratic National Convention, which saw Vice President Kamala Harris accept the presidential nomination, drew 26.203 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research.
Viewership climbed to nearly 28.9 million viewers during Harris’ acceptance speech. That’s above the audience that tuned in for former President Donald Trump‘s acceptance speech at the 2024 Republican National Convention in July, which peaked at 28.4 million viewers.
Thursday was the convention’s highest-rated night and the most-watched final night of the DNC since 2016, which drew an estimated 29.8 million viewers. Day 4 was seen across 15 television networks, including ABC, CBS, NBC, Scripps News, Telemundo, Univision, BET, CNN, CNNe, Fox Business, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, Newsmax, NewsNation and PBS.
Day 4 was up +30% compared to Day 3 of the DNC, which had 20.176 million viewers. It performed better than Day 4 of the RNC, which had 25.38 million viewers (+3%). Thursday night’s showing also outperformed the final day of the 2020 DNC, which saw 24.6 million viewers (+7%).
MSNBC owned the night as the No.1 network across all of television in total viewers and the advertiser-coveted Adults 25-54 demo. The network had 6.529 million total viewers and 1.281 demo viewers between 9-11:30 p.m. (All times ET.)
During the 8-11 p.m. cable news primetime window, MSNBC finished first with both total viewers and the demo, recording 5.999 million and 1.119 viewers, respectively. MSNBC finished the DNC as the most-watched network across all of television for the week in primetime in both measured categories.
This year’s convention also marked the first time that MSNBC surpassed CNN in DNC coverage among both total viewers and the demo. Viewers noted that CNN apparently had a production hiccup on Thursday night, temporarily losing its signal for a two-minute stretch during the evening.
The signal is back on CNN, but I wonder how many people switched channels during that 2 minutes? https://t.co/ifUZclnvPE
— David Clinch (@DavidClinchNews) August 23, 2024
Meanwhile, ABC News closed out the last night of the DNC as America’s most-watched broadcast network with 4.233 million total viewers and 1.050 million A25-54 viewers between 9-11.27 p.m. It was the network’s best DNC Day 4 showing in 16 years and the first time in nearly 30 years that it swept primetime coverage every night during the convention.
NBC News remained in second place with 3.014 million total viewers and 857,000 demo viewers between 9-11:29 p.m. CBS News saw 2.424 million total viewers and 607,000 demo viewers between 9-11:22 p.m.
How the cable nets fared compared to Day 3 of the 2024 DNC (8-11 p.m.)
Fox News: +10% (Total Viewers), +1% (A25-54)
CNN: +16% (Total Viewers), +30% (A25-54)
MSNBC: +19 (Total Viewers), +36% (A25-54)
How the cable nets fared compared to Day 4 of the RNC (8-11 p.m.)
Fox News: -73% (Total Viewers), -79% (A25-54)
CNN: +120% (Total Viewers), +97% (A25-54)
MSNBC: +398% (Total Viewers), +631% (A25-54)
How the cable nets fared compared to Day 4 of the 2020 DNC (8-11 p.m.)
Fox News: -39% (Total Viewers), -56% (A25-54)
CNN: -13% (Total Viewers), -17% (A25-54)
MSNBC: +16% (Total Viewers), +14% (A25-54)
How all the nets performed compared to Day 3 of the 2024 DNC (9 p.m.)
Fox News: +24% (Total Viewers), +20% (A25-54)
CNN: +16% (Total Viewers), +37% (A25-54)
MSNBC: +21% (Total Viewers), +46% (A25-54)
ABC News: +32% (Total Viewers), +49% (A25-54)
CBS News: +16% (Total Viewers), +19% (A25-54)
NBC News: +17% (Total Viewers), +40% (A25-54)
How all the nets performed compared to Day 4 of the 2024 RNC (9 p.m.)
Fox News: -74% (Total Viewers), -80% (A25-54)
CNN: +100% (Total Viewers), +81% (A25-54)
MSNBC: +450% (Total Viewers), +711% (A25-54)
ABC News: +52% (Total Viewers), +43% (A25-54)
CBS News: +27% (Total Viewers), +16% (A25-54)
NBC News: -22% (Total Viewers), +5% (25-54)
How all the nets performed compared to Day 4 of the 2020 DNC (9 p.m.)
Fox News: -21% (Total Viewers), -44% (A25-54)
CNN: -29% (Total Viewers), -33% (A25-54)
MSNBC: +6% (Total Viewers), +3% (A25-54)
ABC News: +42% (Total Viewers), +31% (A25-54)
CBS News: +22% (Total Viewers), +28% (A25-54)
NBC News: +40% (Total Viewers), +51% (A25-54)
Thursday, August 22
9 – 11:30 p.m.*
FNC — 2,349,000 total viewers; 299,000 A25-54
CNN — 3,939,000 total viewers; 829,000 A25-54
MSNBC — 6,529,000 total viewers; 879,000 A25-54
ABC — 4,233,000 total viewers, 707,000 A25-54
CBS — 2,424,000 total viewers, 607,000 A25-54
NBC — 3,014,000 total viewers, 857,000 A25-54
*(Fox News/CNN/MSNBC: 9-11:30 p.m.; ABC: 9-11.27 p.m.; CBS: 9-11:22 p.m.; and NBC: 9-11:29 p.m)
8 – 11 p.m.
FNC — 2,396,000 total viewers; 333,000 A25-54
CNN — 3,681,000 total viewers; 990,000 A25-54
MSNBC — 5,999,000 total viewers; 1,119,000 A25-54
6 – 2 a.m.
FNC — 1,868,000 total viewers; 258,000 A25-54
CNN — 1,413,000 total viewers; 337,000 A25-54
MSNBC — 2,354,000 total viewers; 370,000 A25-54
7 p.m. – 2 a.m.
FNC — 2,064,000 total viewers; 323,000 A25-54
CNN — 2,653,000 total viewers; 719,000 A25-54
MSNBC — 4,208,000 total viewers; 768,000 A25-54
