Night 1 - August 24, 2020
Ratings for night one of the convention were pretty abysmal on broadcast TV. The primary audience for these conventions isn't really tuning in on broadcast, at least not now that the broadcast lead-ins for the conventions are so low. Convention audiences on broadcast networks tend to be more casual viewers, and as broadcast ratings dropped dramatically, massive drops for the RNC were bound to happen. NBC's coverage narrowly topped the others with a 0.31 in the 18-49 demographic, eight tenths under its 2016 result. NBC's broadcast attracted 1.74 million viewers, down over 55% from 2016. It's easily the worst trend of any of the three broadcast networks, likely due to its lead-in dropping from a compatible 1.8 to just a 0.45. ABC took second for the night with a 0.29 in the 18-49 demo and actually drawing the most viewers, with nearly two million tuning in. It's still down a lot from 2016, but not nearly to the level as NBC's coverage. CBS had the best trend because its lead-in didn't get much worse, but still was in dead last with a 0.24 in the 18-49 demo and 1.48 million viewers. The low viewership total can likley be attributed to an extremely incompatible lead-in.
Most of the RNC's viewers tuned in on the right-leaning cable network Fox News. Fox's victory for the night was not a close one. With a 0.85 in the 18-49 demographic and 6.95 million viewers, it over doubled the competition from its closest rival, CNN. It also isn't much lower than their coverage in 2016 in the 18-49 demo and is actually slightly higher in total viewership. CNN's coverage was at a 0.39 in the 18-49 with 2.15 million viewers, massively down from 2016 (over 50% in the 18-49 demo and about 45% in viewers). Meanwhile, MSNBC, which often drew the most viewers for coverage of the Democratic Convention, was in dead last with just a 0.2 in the 18-49 demo and 1.68 million viewers, but its was down the least of any network from 2016 in raw 18-49 numbers.
Night 2 - August 25, 2020
Ratings for night two weren't much better, but they were better. ABC shot up to first place with a 0.4 in 18-49 and 2.10 million viewers, holding essentially all of its lead-in. ABC's coverage dropped on night two in 2016, so its trend this year was a very solid one, down a single tenth. NBC took second for RNC coverage in 18-49 ratings with a 0.3, but won in total viewers with 2.5 million tuning in. Unlike ABC, the NBC coverage still had a pretty abysmal trend from 2016, down seven tenths in 18-49 and over two million viewers. CBS was again in last, this time with a 0.2 in the 18-49 metric, but at least it managed to grow in viewers from its Love Island lead-in. Its trend from 2016 to 2020 was basically the same as night one's trend.
Fox News coverage was almost even in the 18-49 demo, but soared in viewers, adding about 800,000 viewers. Fox's coverage fell hard on night two in 2016, so it was actually up dramatically in both 18-49 ratings and in viewers from the comparable night in 2016. The same can't be said for CNN, but with just a small drop from 2020's first night to its second, their trend also greatly improved. They stayed at less than half of Fox News, with the gap between them widening as CNN was down to 0.38 in the 18-49 metric and 2.13 million viewers. MSNBC, though still easily in last, rose a notch to 0.22 in 18-49 and 1.73 million viewers, growing from 2016's viewer count.
Night 3 - August 26, 2020
The overall broadcast ratings picture didn't look much different on Wednesday. Every single network churned out a 0.3 rating in the 18-49 demo, adding up to a 0.9 demo overall, steady with Tuesday. Despite being down from Tuesdau, ABC's coverage did the best considering its lead-in (it tied its lead-in and grew in viewers), while CBS, despite rising, had its worst retention of the week. NBC' coverage had the most viewers overall. This was a pretty steady night in 2016, as well, and trends for the networks didn't look much different than other nights.
While night three was steady on broadcast, cable saw universal drops. That's understandable, givn that this night of the convention was occurring as a hurricane was hurling towards Louisiana, with some casual viewers potentially turning to the Weather Channel instead. Fox News held onto its lead despite being down about a tenth in 18-49 and about 700,000 viewers. The convention soared on night three in 2016, so this is easily the worst tend for Fox News, being the first night down from its comparative night in 2016 in viewership. CNN had a rough night as well, down over a tenth in the 18-49 metric and drawing a smaller audience than the other nights. Like Fox, the drop looks even worse when compared to 2016, as it rose on that night. MSNBC wasn't down as much but was still down, hitting a 0.19 in the 18-49 metric and 1.50 million viewers, right behind CNN.
Night 4 - August 27, 2020
Ratings on broadcast hit their highest points all week. ABC tied its high point with a 0.4, easily drawing a new high in viewers, as well, with 2.58 million viewers. It was pretty much even with its lead0in. NBC hit a new weekly high in the with a 0.4, but was below Tuesday's viewer haul. CBS narrowly hit a viewership high and tied its 18-49 high, as well. Despite this, ABC and CBS had some of their worse 2016-to-2020 trends of the week.
Ratings on cable also hit weekly high points, but no network soared like they did on the last day of the RNC in 2016. Fox News again blew away the competition with a 1.09 in 18-49 and 8.62 million viewers, a new weekly high. For the second time, the convention was down from its 2016 result in viewers, and was down a very noticeable amount in the 18-49 demo. CNN's coverage was also way down from 2016, and wasn't really all that much higher than its previous 2020 high with a 0.44. In total viewers, their coverage was actually at its second-lowest point of the week. MSNBC's coverage narrowly hit a high in 18-49 and in total viewers, but had its worst year-to-year trend of the week.
All in all, just like the DNC, the RNC was down a plentiful amount from 2016, but still attracted large crowds in the places you'd expect it to. You can read a further breakdown of the 2016 convention's ratings here, and come back next Monday for a look at the RNC and DNC's ratings head-to-head.
