• by Joe Mandese , August 26, 2020

Ratings for the first night of the Republican National Convention trailed the first night of the Democratic National Convention by 14%, according to estimates for the common television network coverage, but the DNC had a greater falloff than the RNC from the first night of their 2016 convention ratings.

While the fall-off was not unanticipated given the fact that both conventions were mostly "virtual" this year, and featured some canned speeches and other content vs. live, impromptu delivery, the DNC's first night delivered 19.8 million viewers two years and older, versus 17.0 million for the first night of the RNC.

But audiences for the DNC's opening night were down 34% from the first night of its 2016 convention, versus only a 26% drop for the first night of the RNC this year vs. 2016.

The biggest audiences historically go to the fourth and final night of the conventions, and this year the DNC's last night delivered 24.6 million viewers, down 17% from the fourth night of 2016's DNC convention coverage.