Opening Night of DNC Draws 26.2 Million TV Viewers

An estimated 26.2 million people watched the opening night of the 2012 Democratic National Convention on Tuesday, September 4, according to Nielsen.   That number is 4 million below the estimated 22.3 million people who tuned in to watch the opening night of the 2012 Republican National Convention on Tuesday, August 28.  (It was pushed back a day due to Hurricane Isaac and nine networks and featured speeches by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Ann Romney.)

The kickoff night of the DNC was carried live from Charlotte, North Carolina across nine networks and featured a speech by First Lady Michelle Obama and San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro.

While coverage varied by network, all nine aired live coverage from approximately 10:00 PM to 11:00 PM. The chart below highlights the sum of the average audience for these networks during common coverage.

			Rating		Number of Viewers
All Households			17.3		19,707,000
Persons 2+			9.1		26,245,000
Persons 18-34			4.7		3,163,000
Persons 35-54			8.6		6,923,000
Persons 55+			19.5		15,219,000

Networks Included:
Day 1 – ABC, CBS, NBC, BET, CNN, Current TV, FOX News, MSNBC and PBS.