PBS DNC Ratings Down For Day Two

Despite the much-anticipated speech by Hillary Clinton, PBS' coverage of day two of the Democratic National Convention was down slightly from the day before, and down significantly from its coverage of day 2 in 2004.

 It is the only broadcast network devoting all of prime time to the convention.

 Not only were the ratings down from four years ago, which could be said of most television in the increasingly fragmented video marketplace, but it also reversed a trend from the previous two elections of ratings improving on the second night.

 According to Nielsen overnight numbers, PBS averaged a 2 household rating/3 share Tuesday , down from the 2.1/3 it averaged Monday night, and down from the 2.9/4 it averaged for the second night of the 2004 convention.

 Still, that 2 rating was on the order of a more-than-70% improvement on its prime time average.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.