Democratic Convention TV Ratings: CNN Soars 70 Percent Above 2012

Channel tops cable news across all of primetime

Michelle Obama Democratic National Convention: Day One
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CNN topped primetime on Monday during Night 1 of the Democratic National Convention (DNC), growing 70 percent over its comparable 2012 figures.

The cable news channel averaged 5.12 million total viewers from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET. That was 37 percent higher than MSNBC’s 3.749 million and Fox News Channel’s (FNC) 3.731 million.

For FNC, that was good enough to mark its highest-rated DNC night in history. Fox News rose 48 percent above its 2012 coverage among total viewers and 55 percent in the main demo. MSNBC had far more modest gains.

CNN was also tops in the key news demo, which focuses on adults 25-54. The home to Jake Tapper hauled in 1.702 million viewers, while MSNBC had 1.075 million. Fox News brought up the rear with 858,000.

Read initial broadcast primetime ratings from last night here. ABC, NBC and CBS covered the convention starting at 10 p.m.

Below is a breakdown from the meaty 10-11:30 time period, which housed the top speeches of the night — including those by Michelle Obama and Bernie Sanders.

  1. CNN: 6.208 million total viewers, 2.187 million in demo
  2. MSNBC: 4.597 million total viewers, 1.398 million in demo
  3. NBC: 4.293 million total viewers, 1.731 million in demo
  4. ABC: 4.107 million total viewers, 1.351 million in demo
  5. Fox News Channel: 3.330 million total viewers, 898,000 in demo
  6. CBS: 3.206 million total viewers, 1.052 million in demo

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