Clinton talk proves a big draw at DNC

Democratic National Convention viewership continued to pace ahead of 2008 on Wednesday night, despite formidable competition from the NFL.

Seven networks averaged 25.1 million total viewers for second-day coverage from 10 p.m. to 11:30 p.m., according to Nielsen, up from 24 million for the equivalent night four years ago.

The cable networks drew nearly half of that audience, averaging 11.8 million viewers between CNN, Fox News and MSNBC.

That was up from the 10.4 million who tuned in to cable networks for Tuesday’s opening night of the convention.

But total viewership for the DNC on Wednesday, which included a fiery speech by former President Bill Clinton, was down from the first night, when Michelle Obama spoke in support of her husband. That night averaged 26.2 million viewers, the second-biggest night for either party so far.

Mitt Romney drew the biggest crowd on the final night of the Republican National Convention last week, averaging 30.3 million viewers for his acceptance speech.

So far the first two nights of the DNC have outdrawn the first two nights of the RNC.

Wednesday’s audience would presumably have been bigger if NBC had carried the speech. But the network instead carried the opening game of the NFL season, which averaged 23.9 million total viewers.

NBC had led the broadcast networks in coverage of the convention on Tuesday. It did carry last night’s DNC finale, the acceptance speech by president Barack Obama.

Other networks airing Clinton’s speech Wednesday were ABC, CBS, Current TV and PBS.
 

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