Dems’ First Night Is Big Draw For African Americans
More than 22 million people — and 17 million U.S. households — watched the first night of the 2008 Democratic National Convention on Monday, August 25.
A large percentage of African American households (24%) tuned in for the night’s speeches, which included a keynote address by Michelle Obama.
Among White households in the U.S., 14.6% watched the convention Monday night, while just 7.3% of Hispanic households tuned in.
Viewers age 55 and older also dominated the TV audience Monday night — 16.6% of all Americans in that age group watched the first night of convention coverage broadcast live during primetime on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX News Channel, MSNBC, BET, and TV One.
| RATING | NUMBER OF | |
|---|---|---|
| All Households * | 15.1 | 17,111,710 |
| Persons 2+ * | 7.8 | 22,296,685 |
| Persons 12-17 | 1.7 | 417,496 |
| Persons 18-34 | 4.6 | 3,156,100 |
| Persons 18-49 | 5.9 | 7,678,484 |
| Persons 55+ | 16.6 | 10,079,978 |
| African American Households ** | 24 | 3,282,817 |
| Hispanic Households ** | 7.3 | 869,029 |
| White Households ** | 14.6 | 12,751,698 |
| Source: The Nielsen Company (August 25, 2008) | ||
| *Combined figures are the sum of the networks during the common hour of coverage. Included networks are ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, BET, and TV One. | ||
| **Ratings for African American, Hispanic and White households are expressed as a percent of those specific universe estimates. |
Convention coverage varied by network; all eight networks aired live coverage from approximately 10pm to 11pm EST.
View comparable TV ratings for Day 1 of the 2004 Democratic National Convention (Monday, July 26, 2004).
Read the Los Angeles Times’ coverage of Nielsen’s findings.
https://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/article/2008/primetime-tv-ratings-day-1-democratic-convention/