Third Night of Republican National Convention Draws 21.9 million Viewers

An estimated 21.9 million people tuned in to watch the third night of the 2012 Republican National Convention on Wednesday, August 29. The first day of the GOP soirée was pushed back a day due to Hurricane Isaac. Day three of the convention was carried live from Tampa, Fla. across nine networks and featured speeches by former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and VP hopeful Congressman Paul Ryan.

In 2008, over 37 million people tuned in to catch the comparable day 3 of the RNC— which was 41 percent higher than last night’s viewership. That day in 2008, however, made headlines when Sarah Palin made her much-anticipated debut into the national spotlight.

While coverage varied by network, all nine aired live coverage from approximately 10:00 PM to 11:00 PM. The chart below highlights the sum of the average audience for these networks during common coverage.

2012 Republican National Convention

Sum of Networks Live + Same Day
	Day 1-Aug 27, 2012	Day 2-Aug 28, 2012	Day 3-Aug 29, 2012
	Rating	Number of Viewers	Rating	Number of Viewers	Rating	Number of Viewers
All Households	No common coverage due to Hurricane Isaac	14.7	16,920,000	14.7	16,697,000
Persons 2+	7.7	22,301,000	7.7	21,942,000
Persons 18-34	2.2	1,483,000	3.2	2,129,000
Persons 35-54	6.7	5,414,000	6.7	5,482,000
Persons 55+	18.8	14,661,000	17.6	13,670,000

Networks Included:

Day 2 – ABC, CBS, CNBC, CNN, FOXNC, CRNT, MSNBC, NBC and PBS

Day 3 – ABC, CBS, CNBC, CNN, FOXNC, CRNT, MSNBC, NBC and PBS

2008 Republican National Convention

Sum of Networks Live + Same Day
	Day 1-Sept 1 2008	Day 2-Sept 2 2008	Day 3-Sept 3 2008
	Rating	Number of Viewers	Rating	Number of Viewers	Rating	Number of Viewers
Persons 2+	No common coverage due to Hurricane Gustav	7.3	21,528,000	12.9	37,244,000

2008 Networks Included

Day 2 – ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX News, MSNBC

Day 3 – ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX News, MSNBC

Click here for a historical look at past Republican and Democratic conventions.