A new presidential candidate, a host of celebrities, and polished programming helped Democrats and Vice President Kamala Harris secure a ratings victory at this week’s Democratic National Convention, outpacing the television viewership of last month’s Republican event.
The four-day convention in Chicago attracted an average of 21.8 million viewers, according to Nielsen data, surpassing the Republican National Convention’s audience by nearly 15 percent.
Harris’ acceptance speech on the final night drew 28.9 million viewers, slightly edging out former President Donald Trump’s speech in Milwaukee, which had 28.4 million viewers across 15 networks. Trump’s address, the longest convention acceptance speech in recent history at over 90 minutes, occurred just days after an assassination attempt on his life.
Harris’ viewership win was a setback for Trump, who is famously fixated on television ratings and crowd sizes. On Thursday night, as Harris delivered her speech, Trump watched and posted live reactions on his Truth Social account, later calling into Fox News to give a rambling rebuttal.
The convention’s final night was also a significant victory for MSNBC, which drew 6.5 million viewers, the highest DNC viewership in the network’s nearly 30-year history. ABC attracted 4.2 million viewers, and CNN 3.9 million. Despite typically leading cable news networks in ratings, Fox News, which had outperformed during the RNC, fell to fifth place on Thursday night.
While many more tuned in via digital platforms, Nielsen does not count viewership figures from streaming services like YouTube or Twitch, or public access channels like C-SPAN.
The excitement surrounding Harris’ candidacy, along with powerful speeches by former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and former First Lady Michelle Obama, as well as appearances by celebrities like Stevie Wonder, John Legend, Pink, Kerry Washington, and Mindy Kaling, helped drive viewership.
The DNC also transformed typically formal moments into lively, well-produced spectacles, including a spirited version of the ceremonial roll call featuring music from each state and a surprise performance by rapper Lil Jon.
Last month’s Republican convention in Milwaukee took place just days after the assassination attempt on Trump. Although it lacked speeches from former presidents, celebrities like Hulk Hogan and Kid Rock made notable appearances. At the time of the RNC, President Joe Biden was still the Democratic nominee, and the party was in crisis after Biden’s poor performance in CNN’s June debate. Under mounting pressure, Biden ended his campaign the weekend after the Republican convention.
Viewership for the Democratic convention was likely bolstered by rampant speculation that music superstar Beyoncé would make a surprise appearance on the final night. The singer had previously granted the Harris campaign permission to use her 2016 hit “Freedom,” which played as Harris took the stage Thursday night.
In the lead-up to Harris’ speech, social media buzzed with rumors of a possible appearance by Beyoncé. These rumors spread among major media figures online and on television, some of whom suggested that Beyoncé might surprise the audience. Shortly before 8 p.m. ET, celebrity news site TMZ reported that Beyoncé’s appearance was certain.
However, at 10:01 p.m. ET, Beyoncé’s publicist informed The Hollywood Reporter that Queen Bey would not be attending. The publicist then confirmed this to CNN, stating, “She was never scheduled to be in Chicago.”
A person familiar with the situation told CNN that campaign and convention officials had never confirmed Beyoncé’s appearance. TMZ, they said, had not contacted the campaign or convention for comment before publishing its report. TMZ did not respond to CNN’s requests for comment on the story.
But before Beyoncé’s representative publicly denied her attendance, multiple sources close to convention planners told CNN they believed the star would indeed attend.
The Beyoncé buzz, along with speculation over Taylor Swift, had been circulating for weeks leading up to the convention and was not officially dismissed by Harris’ campaign or Beyoncé’s team until the last minute.
