More than 20 million people tuned in to watch all four nights of the Democratic National Convention, beating the July Republican National Convention in total viewership on every day.

Several top Democrats, including nominee and vice president Kamala Harris, current President Joe Biden, and Barack and Michelle Obama, took to the stage in Chicago over the course of the convention, as the race for the White House against Republican Donald Trump continues.

Day 1
Data compiled by TV ratings company Nielsen shows the 2024 opener beats the opening day of the 2020 DNC, when Biden was running for president, which had an audience of 19.7 million. It also surpasses the number of households who watched the opening night of the RNC, hosted in Wisconsin earlier this year, when there were 18.1 million.

However, real viewership figures may be higher than this, as Nielsen data incorporates only broadcasters and not streaming services. It compiles viewership across ABC, CBS, NBC, Scripps News, Univision, CNN, CNNe, FOX Business, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, Newsmax, NewsNation and PBS.

By age group, the older generations watched in their droves, at least compared to those aged, with 15,317,000 people aged over 55 tuning in. Rounded figures show 851,000 people aged between 18 to watched, along with 3,507,000 in the 35 to 54 age bracket.

Day 2
On the day that former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama took to the stage, nearly 20.8 million sat down to watch the DNC, according to Nielsen.

During the former president’s speech, which began approximately at 11:03 p.m. and went until approximately 11:37 p.m. ET, some 21.9 million viewers tuned in.

On the second day of the RNC, July 16, during which former potential nominees Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis spoke, 14,808,000 people watched at home, according to Nielsen.

Day 3
Viewership of the DNC on its third day remained steady, with Nielsen reporting 20.2 million people watching on Wednesday. Around 18 million Americans watched the third day of the RNC back in July.

Day 4
According to Nielsen some 26.2 million viewers tuned in to the final day of the Democratic National Convention on Thursday, with the figure peaking at 28.9 million viewers when Harris formally accepted her party’s presidential nomination.

This beat the final night of the RNC conference, which had 25.4 million viewers and peaked at 28.4 million during Trump’s keynote address. It is also higher than the viewing figures for the final night of the 2020 DNC, when Biden accepted the Democratic nomination with 24.6 million viewers.

Prior to her speech on Thursday, Harris already appeared on the stage at Chicago’s United Center and McCormick Place to introduce Biden on the DNC’s opening day. The president abandoned his run for a second term in the White House on July 21 after a disastrous debate performance.

After being introduced by Harris and his daughter Ashley, Joe Biden said it had been the “honor of my lifetime to serve as your president.”

Talking about his decision to step down, he added: “I love the job, but I love my country more. All this talk about how I’m angry at all those people (who) said I should step down, that’s not true. I love my country more, and we need to preserve our democracy in 2024.”

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