CNN rules ratings on opening night of Democratic convention

Reporting from New York —  CNN had the largest prime-time audience on the first night of the 2016 Democratic National Convention, but all three cable news networks saw ratings rise over 2012 levels.

Around 29 million viewers watched the speakers featured in the 10 to 11:30 p.m. EDT time slot at the convention in Philadelphia, where Hillary Clinton will receive the party’s nomination for president. The figure topped the 23 million who watched the first night of the GOP’s convention last week.

CNN averaged 5.12 million viewers in prime time (8 to 11 p.m. EDT), topping MSNBC (3.75 million) and Fox News (3.73 million).

CNN was up 70% compared with the first night of the 2012 gathering of Democrats, while MSNBC gained 14% and Fox was up 48%, according to data from Nielsen.

The ranking follows past conventions in which Fox News led during the Republican gatherings and CNN and MSNBC performed more strongly with the Democrats. But Monday’s audience was the largest ever for a night of Democratic National Convention coverage on Fox.

CNN also dominated in the 25-to-54 age group that advertisers seek to reach with news programming.

In the 10 to 11:30 p.m. EDT slot carried by the broadcast networks, CNN led with 6.92 million viewers, followed by 4.6 million for MSNBC, 4.29 million for NBC, 4.1 million for ABC, 3.3 million for Fox News and 3.2 million for CBS. The hour featured First Lady Michelle Obama’s address to the convention and speeches by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.).

The Democrats’ total audience on the featured 10 p.m. slot — 25.9 million viewers across the ad-supported networks and another 2.68 million on PBS — is well above the number of viewers for the first night of the Republican convention on July 18. Melania Trump, the wife of Republican nominee Donald Trump, was the featured speaker on that night.

But viewing levels for the conventions are not a reliable predictor for election results. In the 10 presidential elections since 1976, the losing political party had the higher-rated convention six times.

Twitter: @SteveBattaglio

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