Convention Viewing Down From ‘92 Event

Now that the confetti has been swept away, it’s time to talk convention numbers. And they’re nothing to cheer about.

As it was for the Republicans last month, combined viewership for last week’s Democratic event was down dramatically from 1992. According to Nielsen figures, an average 22 million Americans watched the Democrats on Monday through Thursday on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and PBS down from 28.1 million in 1992.

For the Republicans, who also bought time on the Family Channel, it was almost the same margin - from 28.6 million viewers a night in ‘92 to 22.8 million in ‘96, Nielsen says.

Over four nights, the Democrats averaged a combined 31.8 percent share of the audience on five outlets. Ironically, the GOP averaged an identical 31.8 percent on six channels.