UPDATED: NBC, CNN Top Ratings In DNC Coverage
NBC Delivers 1.6 rating in 25-54 demo, CNN beats both ABC and CBS in 10 p.m. hour.
By Marisa Guthrie -- Broadcasting & Cable, 8/26/2008 10:37:00 AM MT
NBC topped ABC and CBS in convention coverage on Monday, the first night of the Democratic National Convention in Denver. All three networks were live from 10-11 p.m. when Michelle Obama delivered her speech.
NBC News' coverage was watched by 4.71 million viewers posting a 1.6 rating in news' target demographic of 25-54 year olds. The network got a nice lead-in from the premiere of America's Toughest Jobs at 9 p.m., which pulled in 7.3 million viewers (2.7 rating in the 18-49 demo).
ABC, which had no lead-in to speak of with a rerun of Samantha Who, tied CBS News in the 25-54 demo with a 1.2 rating, but was within 600,000 viewers of NBC, with 4.17 million total viewers for the 10 p.m. hour.
CBS News' coverage was watched by 3.64 million total viewers.
Meanwhile, cable news saw big gains for the first night of the Democratic convention compared to four years ago.
MSNBC was up 88 percent in primetime while CNN and Fox News posted gains of 85 and 84 percent respectively.
And CNN bested all but NBC at 10 p.m. with 4.26 million viewers for the hour. Fox News was watched by 2.98 million for the hour while MSNBC pulled in 2.01 million.
