DNC Ratings: How Many People Watched Kamala Harris’ Acceptance Speech?
Update (8/23/24 at 5:20 p.m. ET): An estimated 26.2 million viewers tuned into the Democratic National Convention on its final night, according to Nielsen (via The Wrap). This tally includes more than a dozen networks: ABC, CBS, NBC, Scripps News, Telemundo, Univision, BET, CNN, CNNe, FOX Business, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, Newsmax, NewsNation, and PBS.
Per CNN’s Elizabeth Wagmeister, Kamala Harris’ speech time in particular (from 10:31 p.m. to 11:11 p.m. ET) surged to 28.9 million.
Just in from Nielsen: The final night of the DNC drew an average of 26.2 million viewers across 15 networks — roughly 6 million more than the three nights prior.
Viewership surged during Kamala Harris’ speech with 28.9 million viewers tuning in from 10:31pm to 11:11pm ET.
— Elizabeth Wagmeister (@EWagmeister) August 23, 2024
Previously (8/23/24 at 12:15 p.m. ET) The grand finale of the Democratic National Convention took place Thursday night (August 22), and while there was no super special “secret performer” as was rumored — sorry Beyoncé and Taylor Swift fans — presidential hopeful Kamala Harris made her case in a primetime address as she accepted the party’s nomination.
Her nomination is historic, as she’s the first Black woman and South Asian woman to be at the top of a major party ticket. And her speech followed a bevy of performances — including The Chicks singing the National Anthem and Pink performing “What About Us” alongside her daughter Willow — and speeches that included addresses from Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Mark Kelly, Governors Gretchen Whitmer and Roy Cooper, former Representatives Adam Kinzinger and Gabby Giffords, Representative Maxwell Frost, and members of Kamala Harris’ immediate family.
So how many people tuned in to see the potential next president’s acceptance speech?
According to analyst Michael Mulvihill, overnight figures show that the early ratings for Harris’ speech indicate 15 million people tuned in from the 10:30 to 11:15 p.m. time range for the seven networks measured. That’s a 22% increase over the same set of ratings for Donald Trump’s RNC acceptance speech, which drew 12.3 million from the 10:30 p.m. to midnight timeslot.
Overnight ratings for the acceptance speeches of Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. Seven networks combined:
Harris – 15.0 (10:30-11:15p)
Trump – 12.3 (10:30-12m)
Difference: 22%
— Michael Mulvihill (@mulvihill79) August 23, 2024
Mulvihill previously noted, “Take it as you will, in the last three Presidential cycles the candidate with the larger TV audience for their nomination acceptance speech has gone on to win the Presidency.”
Final, fuller viewership numbers are expected later today, so it remains to be seen how the full tally stacks up against her opponent Donald Trump’s final RNC speech ratings — as a reported 23 million tuned in to see him speak at the convention. This post will be updated when those figures are available.
The first three nights of the DNC were, viewership-wise, remarkably consistent, with the first night with Joe Biden as the closing address drawing in 20 million (compared to 18.1 million for RNC) the second with Michelle and Barack Obama ticking up with 20.6 million (compared to RNC’s 14.8 million), and the third with VP hopeful Tim Walz earning 20.2 million pairs of eyes (versus RNC’s 18 million).
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