Night 1 - July 18, 2016
The week-long event kicked off on July 18, 2016. Due to Democratic President Obama being the incumbent at the time, the Republicans held their convention the week before the Democrats. Opening night featured speeches by the wife of the nominee, future First Lady Melania Trump. Also speaking were prominent Trump backers such as Senators Joni Ernst and Jeff Sessions (the future Attorney General), Representative Ryan Zinke (also a future cabinet member), former mayor Rudy Giuliani, and actor Scott Baio.
Ratings for the opening night were a bit lower on broadcast than the opening night of the Democratic Convention, but one thing was consistent: NBC remained easily on top, even though its programming from 8-10 was a bit weaker than ABC's. NBC coverage of the convention drew a 1.1 in the key demo and 3.91 million total viewers, leading in both metrics. ABC's, despite having the biggest lead-in, trailed NBC's coverage by four tenths, with a 0.7 in the 18-49 demo and 3.64 million viewers. That ABC lead-in, The Bachelorette, has a fanbase that's well-known for not watching the shows that air behind it, and it's not at all surprising that its audience wasn't interesting in a political event like the Republican Convention. CBS took last place with a 0.5 in the 18-49 demo, less than half of what NBC did for the night. However, with the weakest lead-in of all, CBS's coverage had easily the best retention of all of the networks.
Despite its reputation as the right-leaning network, Fox News didn't have the runaway victory for night one that CNN had on night one of the Democratic Convention, besting CNN by a tenth (CNN beat MSNBC by six tenths on the first night of the Democratic Convention). Nevertheless, Fox News did draw a massive audience for its coverage (which consisted of only the 10 PM hour), far exceeding any other network's coverage in viewers with 6.35 million tuning in. In comparison, CNN had just 3.82 tuning in, showing a far older skew for the Fox News broadcast. Far behind them both was MSNBC, which took last place for the night overall with a just a 0.28 in 18-49 and not even two million viewers, below what Fox News did for its worst night of the Democratic Convention.
In all, the Republican Convention opened up about eight tenths below the Democratic Convention, with about two and a half million viewers less than the Democrats.
Night 2 - July 19, 2016
Night two of the Convention saw speeches from notable Republicans such as Governor Chris Christie, Senator Shelley Moore Capito, 2016 presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson (now a cabinet secretary), and the nominee's children, Tiffany and Donald Trump Jr.
Ratings for night two were notably down on the big three broadcast networks. NBC doubled the other networks in the 18-49 demo, with a 1.0, a tenth below night one despite a far stronger lead-in (America's Got Talent). It was, however, up nearly 800,000 viewers from night one. CBS took second for the night with an hour of coverage steady from night one, but narrowly down in viewers with a stronger lead-in, showing a noticeable drop in interest among viewers out of the demo. ABC's coverage understandably took a hit, as it went from having the best lead-in on ABC to the very worst. It grew from its lead-in (a repeat of The Real O'Neals) in both metrics, which itself is a bit impressive.
On cable interest was also down. Fox News again topped the night with a 0.72 for its coverage, down two tenths from the prior night and down about a million viewers. Its lead over CNN, however, grew a bit, as CNN's coverage dropped even more than Fox News' coverage did despite a smaller drop in viewers. MSNBC was still far behind the back but was the steadiest network, down a hundredth of a ratings point and about 400,000 viewers. In all, the drop from night on to night two was a bit worse for the Republicans than the Democrats, but they were steadier on CBS and MSNBC than the Democratic Convention.
Night 3 - July 20, 2016
Night three featured a speech from Vice Presidential nominee Mike Pence, then the Governor of Indiana. Also speaking were former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Senator and 2016 candidate Ted Cruz, Laura Ingraham, Florida Governor Rick Scott, and son of the Republican nominee, Eric Trump.
On broadcast, ratings for night three were pretty steady. NBC had a small boost in the demo and another sizable boost in viewers, tying and hitting new highs for the week so far, even with lead-in America's Got Talent dropping mildly in viewers. ABC and CBS were essentially steady, however, both holding at 0.5 in the 18-49 demo and barely moving at all in total viewers.
On cable, Fox News saw a massive bump, recouping all of its losses from Tuesday and then some, with a 1.06 in the 18-49 demo. It also easily hit a new high for any network in viewers, with 7.34 million viewers tuning in to their coverage. The CNN audience wasn't quite as enthusiastic for night three, but they did see a gain as well, up about 400,000 viewers at a half-tenth in the demo. MSNBC was entirely steady in the demo but rose a few hundred thousand viewers. The Democratic Convention also jumped on this night, but didn't see a gain as massive on any single network as the RNC saw on Fox News for night three.
Night 4 - July 21, 2016
The Republican National Convention closed out with a speech by Republican nominee Donald Trump, alongside speeches by his daughter Ivanka, Sherrif Joe Arpaio, Governor Mary Fallin, Rep. Marsha Blackburn, RNC chair Reince Priebus, and Jerry Falwell, Jr.
Broadcast saw multiple networks hitting highs for the week, as ABC and CBS both notched new 18-49 highs and viewership highs. NBC, however, saw no boost in the 18-49 demo and was down in viewers, likely thanks to a far weaker lead-in. ABC's coverage was only three tenths behind with a 0.8 in the 18-49 demo, with 3.88 million viewers. CBS was close behind with a 0.7 and 3.81 million viewers. In all, this was the convention's strongest night on broadcast by far.
However, cable was where the big gains were. Fox News hit its highest rating so far, a massive 1.57 in the 18-49 demo. In the demo, it narrowly trailed CNN's coverage of the final night of the DNC (which drew a 1.68). In viewers, Fox News easily hit the highest viewer total for any night of the convention with nearly 10 million viewers. CNN also jumped in all metrics, with a 1.28 and 5.8 million viewers, trouncing its ratings for prior nights. MSNBC hit its highest night as well for RNC coverage, with a 0.57 and almost three million viewers. Despite that, these MSNBC numbers still trail even the worst night of the DNC.
Despite prior nights of the convention all trailing their respective nights of the DNC, night four of the RNC was slightly ahead of the final night of the DNC in the 18-49 demo, and beat it in total viewers, as well.
(Please note: While ratings figures for nights one through three are for the 9-11 PM hours on CNN and MSNBC, they are only for the 10 PM hour on night four, making for some uneven comparisons as the 9 PM hours tend to rate lower.)
Check back next week for a full rundown of the RNC's 2020 ratings!