Low TV viewer turnout for first night of 2020 Democratic convention

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) –
The first night of the virtual Democratic National Convention (DNC), which had been moved online due to COVID-19 concerns, has been described as a “media disaster.” TV viewership of Monday night’s event was reportedly down at least 25% from the live DNC convention of 2016.

The CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox News, MSNBC and CNN major TV networks averaged 18.68 million viewers during the overlapping hour of coverage beginning at 10 p.m. Monday. Viewership figures do not include younger viewers who watched all or parts of the event online rather than on TV, the Hollywood Reporter said.

Most of the speeches had been pre-taped, as the convention was held virtually rather than live, and the proceedings were described as being “exciting as an infomercial,” Zero Hedge reported.

Although the evening featured popular speakers like Michelle Obama and Bernie Sanders, the low TV turnout was expected as an increasing number of viewers tune in to virtual events through streaming services and mobile devices.

“According to Nielsen, from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern, Monday’s convention debut drew 2.1 million viewers on ABC, 1.9 million on NBC and 1.7 million on CBS.” Monday night’s viewership figure was less than half what it was in 2016, when 11.6 million people watched the first night of the convention,” Zero Hedge said.

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