What Went Down On The Final Night Of The DNC
More People Tuned In For Night 3 Of The DNC
Wednesday night had the best ratings of the DNC so far. According to preliminary numbers from Nielsen, 22.8 million viewers watched last night’s proceedings across 10 major TV networks — up from fewer than 20 million the first two nights and just a little lower than the 24.4 million who watched Wednesday night of the 2016 DNC.
The 2020 DNC’s TV ratings are still down
Number of viewers age 2 or older who tuned into the 2012, 2016 and 2020 Democratic National Conventions on major TV channels
| Night | 2012 | 2016 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | – | 26.0m | 19.7m |
| Tuesday | 26.2m | 24.7 | 19.2 |
| Wednesday | 25.1 | 24.4 | 22.8 |
| Thursday | 35.7 | 29.8 | TBD |
And the DNC may draw even more eyeballs tonight: Historically, the final night of the convention has seen significantly higher ratings than the other nights — probably because that’s the night the actual presidential nominee speaks.
Welcome!
Well, this is it. Tonight is the last night of the Democratic convention. And the main event, of course, is Biden’s speech in which he will officially accept the nomination. It is arguably the biggest speech of Biden’s nearly 50-year-long career, and although nominee acceptance speeches can often be perfunctory, there is arguably a lot riding on Biden’s this year.
Biden leads Trump handily in the polls, but we’re still a long way from November. And given that the coronavirus pandemic has limited Biden’s ability to campaign in the way a presidential candidate normally would, he’s had less of an opportunity to make his case to America for why they should vote for him.
So tonight will be his opportunity to do that. It’ll also be Democrats’ last opportunity to highlight what they see as the direction for the party under a Biden-Harris administration. So please join us as we follow along and hold out hope for an epic balloon drop. Have questions? Ping us at @538politics!