UPDATE: The third night of the RNC brought in 18 million viewers on Thursday, nearly matching Monday’s 18.1 million after viewership dropped to 14.8 million on the convention’s second night on Tuesday.
PREVIOUSLY: The first telecasts of the Republican National Convention on Monday drew in 18.1 million viewers across networks, per Nielsen.
That total, measured during the 10 p.m. ET hour, accounts for 12 broadcasters and cablers: ABC, CBS, NBC, Scripps News, Telemundo, CNN, Fox Business, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, Newsmax, NewsNation and PBS, with Nielsen noting that Telemundo only aired 9 minutes of RNC coverage.
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Fox News led the pack by far with 6.9 million viewers at 10 p.m. Next was ABC with 2.3 million viewers, NBC with 2.2 million, CBS with 1.8 million, MSNBC with 1.3 million and CNN with 1.1 million.
On Tuesday, for second night of primetime coverage that aired from 10 p.m. to 11:15 p.m. ET, the RNC averaged 14.8 million viewers, according to Nielsen. Most of them were over the age of 55 (11.6 million). about 2.4 million fell into the adults 35-54 demographic.
Fox News once again was the dominant player with 5.3 million viewers in the 10 p.m.-11:30 p.m. ET frame. NBC was No. 2 with about 2.3 million, followed by ABC (2 million), CBS (1.6 million), CNN (968,000) and MSNBC (798,000).
Night 1 of the RNC notably featured Donald Trump announcing JD Vance as his pick for vice president.
“After lengthy deliberation and thought, and considering the tremendous talents of many others, I have decided that the person best suited to assume the position of Vice President of the United States is Senator J.D. Vance of the Great State of Ohio,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “J.D. honorably served our Country in the Marine Corps, graduated from Ohio State University in two years, Summa Cum Laude, and is a Yale Law School Graduate, where he was Editor of The Yale Law Journal, and President of the Yale Law Veterans Association. J.D.’s book, ‘Hillbilly Elegy,’ became a Major Best Seller and Movie, as it championed the hardworking men and women of our Country. J.D. has had a very successful business career in Technology and Finance, and now, during the Campaign, will be strongly focused on the people he fought so brilliantly for, the American Workers and Farmers in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota, and far beyond….”
The announcement came two days after an attempt to assassinate Trump occurred at a rally in Butler, Pa. A bullet pierced the former president’s ear, while the shooter and one civilian died.
Model and reality TV star Amber Rose also spoke at the RNC to endorse Trump, saying that “the media has lied to us about Donald Trump. I know this because for a long time, I believed those lies” and adding that she “realized Donald Trump and his supporters don’t care if you’re Black, white, gay or straight. It’s all love,” Rose said. “And that’s when it hit me: These are my people. This is where I belong.”
The RNC is taking place in Milwaukee, Wis.
