A reenergized Democratic campaign surges to convention ratings win over Republicans

By Hadas Gold, CNN

New York (CNN) — A new presidential candidate, a slew of celebrities and slick programming helped propel Democrats and Vice President Kamala Harris to a ratings win at this week’s Democratic National Convention, surpassing the television viewership of last month’s Republican gathering.

Viewership of the four-day festivities in Chicago drew an average of 21.8 million viewers, according to Nielsen data, eclipsing the audience of the Republican National Convention by nearly 15 percent.

On the final evening this week, Harris’ acceptance address was watched by 28.9 million viewers, narrowly outdrawing former President Donald Trump’s speech in Milwaukee, which drew 28.4 million viewers across 15 television networks. Trump’s more than 90-minute address, the longest convention acceptance speech in recent history, came just days after the assassination attempt on his life.

Harris’ viewership victory amounted to a blow for Trump, who is famously obsessed with television ratings and the size of his crowds. On Thursday night, as Harris delivered her address, Trump watched along, posting live reactions to his Truth Social account, then called into Fox News afterward to offer a meandering rebuttal.

The final night of the convention was also a win for MSNBC, which attracted 6.5 million viewers, the highest DNC showing in the network’s nearly 30-year network history. The boost in viewership was also seen at ABC with 4.2 million viewers, and CNN with 3.9 million. And while Fox News typically outdraws cable news networks in the ratings race, including at last month’s RNC, the right-wing network fell to fifth place on Thursday night.

While many more also tuned in to the conventions on digital platforms, viewership figures for streaming services such as YouTube or Twitch, and public access channels like C-SPAN, are not counted by Nielsen.

Excitement over Harris’ candidacy, as well as soaring 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 a host of celebrities, including Stevie Wonder, John Legend, Pink, Kerry Washington and Mindy Kaling helped fuel viewership.

The DNC also turned normally staid moments into slickly produced spectacles, including a raucous take on the ceremonial roll call that featured music from each state, as well as a surprise performance by rapper Lil Jon.

Last month’s Republican convention in Milwaukee took place just days after the assassination attempt on Trump. While it did not feature speeches from former presidents, celebrities such as Hulk Hogan and Kid Rock made high-profile appearances. At the time of the RNC, President Joe Biden was still the Democratic nominee and the party was in crisis mode following Biden’s disastrous performance at CNN’s June debate. As pressure mounted, Biden ended his campaign the weekend after the Republican convention.

Viewership of the Democratic convention was also likely boosted by rampant speculation that music superstar Beyoncé would make a surprise performance on the final night. The singer had previously given the Harris campaign permission to use her 2016 hit “Freedom,” which played Thursday night as Harris took the stage.

In the run up to Harris’ address, social media buzzed with rumors about a possible Beyoncé’s appearance. That speculation made its way to major media figures on social media and television, some of whom also suggested that Beyoncé could make a surprise appearance. Then, shortly before 8 p.m. ET, celebrity news site TMZ reported that Beyonce’s appearance was a certainty.

But two hours later, at 10:01 p.m. ET, Beyoncé’s publicist told The Hollywood Reporter that Queen Bey would not be in attendance. She then confirmed that to CNN, saying, “She was never scheduled to be in Chicago.”

A person familiar with the matter told CNN that campaign and convention officials had never confirmed Beyoncé would appear. TMZ, the person said, had not reached out to the campaign or convention for comment before publishing its report. TMZ did not respond to CNN requests for comment regarding its story.

But before Beyoncé’s representative went on the record to deny that she was ever scheduled to attend, multiple people close to convention planners told CNN that they believed the star would in fact attend.

The Beyoncé buzz, along with speculation over Taylor Swift, had been swirling for weeks prior to the convention, and was never formally shut down by Harris’ campaign or Beyonce’s camp until the last minute.

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