Special Poll
Vice President Kamala Harris’ speech at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) drew an impressive 28.9 million viewers, slightly surpassing the viewership for former President Trump’s speech at the Republican National Convention (RNC). This year’s DNC, which featured a star-studded lineup including Oprah Winfrey and actor Tony Goldwyn, attracted more viewers than the 2020 convention, though it fell short of the audience numbers seen in 2016.
The convention was a significant win for MSNBC, which captured a large share of the total television audience. The network reported an average of over 6.5 million viewers between 9 and 11:30 p.m. on Thursday, with 7.2 million tuning in for Harris’ 40-minute address. This marked the highest viewership MSNBC has ever recorded for a DNC event.
CNN also reported strong numbers, with over 3.9 million viewers watching the fourth night of the DNC on their channel.
For comparison, Fox News reported that more than 10 million viewers watched during the hour when Trump accepted the Republican nomination at the RNC in July. Trump’s speech, like Harris’, took place on the final night of his party’s convention and attracted 28.4 million viewers across the major TV networks, according to Nielsen ratings.
President Joe Biden’s speech on the first night of the DNC also drew significant attention, with over 19 million viewers tuning in, just shy of the 20 million total viewers on cable that night. Former President Barack Obama’s address on Tuesday was watched by 21 million people, highlighting the high level of interest in the DNC’s proceedings.