CNN tops ratings on second night of Democratic convention

CNN was the most-watched network for the second night of the 2016 Democratic National Convention on Tuesday, which is pacing well-ahead of 2012 and last week’s gathering of the Republicans.

An estimated 27 million viewers were tuned in to cable and broadcast coverage of the convention’s 10 p.m. EDT slot that featured former White House occupant Bill Clinton making the case for his wife, Hillary Clinton, the first woman to receive a major party nomination for president.

In contrast, the featured hour for the second night of the Republican National Convention was watched by 19.8 million viewers on the ad-supported networks on July 19. An additional 1.3 million viewers watched on PBS.

Nielsen data showed CNN with the largest average audience from 10 to 11:15 p.m. ET on Tuesday, with 5.92 million viewers, followed by NBC (5.281 million), MSNBC (3.83 million), ABC (3.46 million), CBS (2.94 million) and Fox News Channel (2.85 million). PBS averaged 2.33 million viewers from 10 to 11:30 p.m. Eastern time. CNN also was the ratings leader Monday.

In prime time (8 to 11 p.m. Eastern time), CNN averaged 4.67 million viewers, topping MSNBC’s 3.18 million and Fox News’ 2.95 million. CNN was up 55% compared with the Tuesday audience for the 2012 Democratic National Convention, which fell on Sept. 4 that year. MSNBC saw a gain of 16%, as did Fox News, which was up 17%.

CNN also led the broadcast and cable competition in the 25 to 54 age group that advertisers seek when they buy news programming.

Twitter: @SteveBattaglio

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UPDATES:

2:35 p.m.: This story was updated with final ratings data issued by Nielsen.

This story was originally published at 12:40 p.m.