Democratic National Convention organizers were criticized for a schedule that had some of the most high-profile speakers, including President Joe Biden, taking the stage past prime time on the East Coast. However, that did not appear to affect viewership, according to figures released by the Nielsen measurement company and cited by multiple news outlets.
The ratings —which so far don’t include the numbers for Thursday, Democratic presidential nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris’ big night — show that the day when former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama took the stage at the United Center in Chicago attracted the largest number of viewers.
But interestingly, audiences did not seem to mind the late start of the headliners’ speeches. Over 21.9 million people watched Barack Obama’s speech live — a bigger audience than viewed the speakers in the 10-11:45 p.m. ET period before him, The Washington Post reported.
On Monday, when Biden addressed the DNC, 19 million viewers of the 20 million who tuned in for the earlier parts of the evening stuck around to hear him speak.
The late start was widely criticized by Biden allies, who thought it was disrespectful to the president. Media personalities, including CNN’s Jake Tapper, said Biden got the “fuzzy end of the lollipop” from party officials. Still, organizers attributed the late start of Biden’s speech to the “raucous applause” from the audience in the earlier parts of the evening.
Data for the speech of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’ running mate, which started past 11:20 p.m. ET on Wednesday, was not immediately available.
Organizers, though, seemed to take note of the criticism around scheduling as Harris took the stage just after 10:30 p.m. ET on Thursday to deliver her long-anticipated speech in one of the most memorable moments of the four-day event.
Overall, Fox News came in third behind both MSNBC and CNN during the first three nights of the convention both in total viewers and in the 25-49 demographic, which is key with advertisers.
So far, DNC viewership figures for the first three nights exceeded the numbers the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee got in its first three days.
Still, former President Donald Trump’s speech on the fourth night of that convention peaked at 28.4 million viewers.