The first night of the Democratic National Convention drew about 19.7 million viewers on American television, a significant drop-off from four years ago, according to data released Tuesday by the measurement company Nielsen.
The virtual convention, lacking in the real-world buzz of typical events, kicked off Monday with sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., And former First Lady Michelle Obama as headliners. It included a combination of recorded and live events, all done remotely. Parts of the convention were broadcast on major broadcast networks, and most were broadcast on cable news channels.
But the total audience fell among the 26 million people who watched the first night of the 2016 Democratic National Convention – a decline of 24 percent.
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The drop-off has perhaps been facilitated by a growing digital audience that has watched events on the internet. TJ Ducklo, National Press Secretary for Joe Biden’s Presidential Campaign, tweeted Tuesday that the event attracted a total of 28.9 million viewers, of which 10.2 million internet streams were makeup for the TV drop-off.
Previous democratic events have not shown similar TV recordings. The Democratic presidential debates produced strong reviews, including a public record for the Las Vegas debate.
MSNBC said in a news release that it was broadcasting all broadcast and cable channels in total viewers for the prime-time hours of Monday night’s convention, with 4.3 million viewers from 8 to 11 pm ET. CNN drew 4.1 million viewers, and Fox News drew 3.4 million.
MSNBC is owned by NBCUniversal, the parent company of NBC News.
