{UAH} Edward Mulindwa, Reality check in real time! First Night of RNC Draws 17 Million Viewers

TV audience was 14% smaller than for the first night of the Democratic National Convention

The first night of the Republican National Convention drew 17 million viewers, according to Nielsen, underperforming the opening nights of both last week's Democratic event and the 2016 Republican convention.

TV viewership of Monday's event, which included speeches from President Trump and his son Donald Trump Jr., was 14% smaller than the first night of the Democratic National Convention, which drew 19.7 million viewers, according to Nielsen.

The first night of the Republican and Democratic nominating conventions both had smaller TV audiences than four years ago. About 26% fewer people tuned into this year's Republican National Convention than watched in 2016, according to Nielsen, when more than 23 million people watched Melania Trump address delegates. The first night of the 2020 Democratic convention drew 24% fewer viewers than watched the first night of the 2016 Democratic event.

The decline in TV viewership of the conventions reflects, in part, Americans' shifting media-consumption habits. As millions of households cut the cable cord, political discourse is increasingly moving online to the realms of tech firms such as Alphabet Inc.'s YouTube, Twitter Inc. and Facebook Inc.

Monday's schedule also included speeches from campaign aide Kimberly Guilfoyle, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and Mark and Patricia McCloskey, a Missouri couple who became famous online and were later charged with gun crimes after pointing firearms at Black Lives Matter protesters outside their home in June.

The speakers sought to contrast Mr. Trump's positions on immigration, foreign policy and the economy favorably with that of his rival for the presidency, former Vice President Joe Biden. During his prime-time speech, the younger Mr. Trump said Mr. Biden "wants to bring in more illegal immigrants to take jobs from American citizens," railed against "radical left-wing policies" and claimed that the coronavirus-stricken economy has recovered faster than "so-called experts" expected.

Earlier in the night, in a speech that circulated widely online, Ms. Guilfoyle touted the prospect of a second term for Mr. Trump as her voice crescendoed, yelling "the best is yet to come" with her arms outstretched.

Some 7.06 million viewers tuned into Fox News from 10 to 11 p.m., the largest audience of any cable or broadcast outlet, according to Nielsen data provided to the networks. CNN drew about 2 million viewers, and about 1.6 million people watched the convention on MSNBC. ABC had 1.98 million viewers, the most of any broadcast outlet, followed by NBC, which drew 1.74 million viewers and CBS, which had 1.48 million viewers.

Sent from my iPhone