The Democratic Convention is Struggling to Get America's Attention, Initial Data Suggest
By: Paul Bond (Newsweek)
This program has been pre-recorded.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The Democratic National Convention began on Monday, but is struggling to get America's attention.
In Day 1 of its broadcast on Monday night, ABC led with 2.1 million viewers, about a quarter of what the network draws nightly for its flagship news program, World News Tonight, according to Nielsen data. NBC was next with 1.9 million and CBS was third with 1.7 million.
In all, 5.8 million people tuned in to the first night of the Democratic National Convention, down a whopping 50 percent from 11.6 million that tuned into the first night of the party's convention four years ago.
While insiders — and some media outlets — are spinning the numbers as a victory, considering the event lacks a live audience, falling balloons, dramatic reactions and everything else that makes a political convention worth watching, such analysis ignores the fact that the extreme partisanship in the nation did not boost interest in the convention that will nominate Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for president and vice president, respectively.
That the convention is virtual this year is, of course, due to the coronavirus pandemic, and a virtual convention is designed in large measure for online streaming. But preliminary numbers there, too, are small.
At the DNC's YouTube channel, a replay of Michelle Obama's 18-minute primetime speech where she said, "If we have any hope of ending this chaos we have got to vote for Joe Biden like our lives depend on it," was viewed just 4,000 times in the first 10 hours after it was posted.
It took 12 hours before an eight-minute speech made by Bernie Sanders managed to crack 1,000 views.
Meanwhile, a two-minute recap of the Monday night's event focusing on the death of George Floyd, Black Lives Matter protests, COVID-19 and speech highlights garnered only 333 views the first hour after it was posted Tuesday morning.
The live stream of the entire first night, which weighs in at two hours and 17 minutes, fared a bit better, with 538,000 views so far.
But many reviews are positive. The one getting the most attention comes courtesy of Deadline, a trade publication for the entertainment industry, which predicted Biden will beat President Donald Trump due to the DNC's brilliant convention.
"The first of four nights of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris' official bid for the White House was just over two hours of fast paced television that may just seal the deal," reads Deadline's review.
When cable TV is added to broadcast, 18.7 million tuned in to Monday's opening night, down 28 percent from four years ago, further suggesting that the virtual convention viewership isn't living up to the hype of the event.
Late Monday, though, Biden national press secretary TJ Ducklo tweeted that 10.2 million people watched at least some of Monday's event via digital streaming. "We are producing a digital convention, and people are watching," he wrote.
This story and headline have been updated to reflect cable TV ratings and a tweet from Joe Biden's national press secretary.
The convention isn't live so why would viewers care about watching pre-recorded content in real time? The number of views will trickle in the same way that mail-in ballots will trickle in.
The 2020 election has become a slow trickle.
I have a hard time believing it's that high. Who are these people? The 3.8 million Democrats who are actually excited about the election? And 2 million suicidal people trying to bore themselves to death?
Why is it so difficult for a writer to just do the math and report how many people tuned in to view a portion of Monday or Tuesday "events" and speeches?
When it's on every channel and the outcome is preordained, I suspect that those who are interested watched.
Be careful Tacos, your bias is showing...
I have a bias against conventions, in general.
There is no doubt the total is higher than just 5.8 million from the three networks. There are numerous streaming services showing it.
Like the article says, cable plus broadcast equaled 18.7 million
which does not include, as you pointed out, streaming services.
My adult kids do everything on their phones, ipads or some internet streaming device.
Those are the voters who will make a difference.
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I think they had a convention just because it is expected and there is "free" advertising involved.
I watched some of it. While it would be a little hard to describe it as "interesting", I think the Democrats are doing a pretty good job so far. The roll call of the 50 states and territories was well done, very photogenic, and cute.
All they seem be preaching is hate, fear, intolerance, and lies.
No wonder the numbers are so low
That's tRump and his tRumpsters to a T.
Keep posting that kind of comment and folks might start thinking that you didn't watch one second of the DNC over the last two evenings.
True....not a single second, total waste of time...just relying on their past performance
And they had to have a "convention" for something they do on a daily basis because....
I agree. It was fabulous. It added a human perspective to the roll call. It allowed Americans like me to feel more included in the process.