The first night of the Virtual Democratic National Convention of 2020 was for the most part a snooze party and that was reflected in their stupid TV ratings, which thankfully compared to the 2016 opening parties.
Networks CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox News, MSNBC and CNN averaged 18.68 million viewers in the overlapping hour of coverage beginning Monday at 10 a.m., according to The Hollywood Reporter, a 28 percent plunge from DNC 2016’s opening night.
A dip was not unexpected, as more and more viewers are logging in via streaming services and mobile devices, which are not considered in traditional TV ratings.
In addition to a scathing speech by former First Lady Michelle Obama who endorsed presumptive candidate Joe Biden, the night was also short on direct must-see moments from conventions past, as most comments were pre-taped with the event actually held was due to the coronavirus.
The broadcast networks – CBS, NBC and ABC – took the biggest hit, with a decline of 42 percent in viewers from 2016.
The three cable news networks did better, but still saw a 16 percent drop in viewers from 2016, the report said.
The first night of the virtual Democratic National Convention of 2020 was for the most part a snooze party and that was reflected in their stupid TV ratings, which are fueled by comparisons to the opening parties of 2016. Among the six, MSNBC attracted the most eyes during the 10 o’clock hour, with 5.1 million viewers.
But CNN cried in a statement that it conquered two major demographics: Adults ages 25-54 and 18-34.
The network also notes that its various digital platforms saw a 19 percent increase in unique visitors on Monday as opposed to the first day of the DNC 2016.
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