DNC's first night beats RNC's in TV ratings

First Lady Michelle Obama

(AP) NEW YORK - Michelle Obama has bragging rights over Ann Romney in one early measurement — television ratings.

The Nielsen Co. said about 26.2 million people watched the opening night of the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday in Charlotte, N.C., where the first lady was the featured speaker.

Last week, Nielsen said 22.3 million watched the first night of the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., where potential first lady Ann Romney talked about her husband, Mitt. The same number of viewers watched the Democrats' first night in 2008, when Michelle Obama was also the featured speaker.

NBC was the most popular network during the 10 p.m. ET hour on Tuesday, with just over 5 million viewers. CBS had 3.27 million and ABC had 3.24 million, Nielsen said. PBS, which broadcast throughout prime time, had 3.8 million viewers during the 10 p.m. hour.

Cable television ratings indicate the degree to which viewers seek ideological comfort zones. Conservative friendly Fox News Channel had the smallest audience of the three cable news and three broadcast networks, with 2.4 million viewers. During opening night of last week's GOP convention, Fox topped everyone with 6.9 million, or nearly three times as many people.

The left-leaning MSNBC had 4.1 million viewers on Monday, up sharply from the 1.5 million viewers who watched the network cover the first night of the GOP. It's also nearly twice the audience MSNBC had four years ago, when the network was less partisan.

CNN seeks to be nonpartisan, but it also is more popular with Democrats. Its Tuesday audience of 3.89 million more than doubled CNN's coverage of opening night in Tampa last week (1.5 million).

Michelle Obama was a big hit Monday in a measurement by the social media network Twitter. The company said she was responsible for at least 28,003 tweets per minute shortly after she delivered her speech.

By contrast, the peak moment at the GOP convention was 14,289 tweets per minute during Mitt Romney's acceptance speech, Twitter said. Ann Romney's peak was 6,195 per minute, said Elaine Filadelo, Twitter spokeswoman. The company measures the volume of tweets through the use of hashtags, names and phrases, so it's possible the number could be larger in all cases.

It's not exactly clear why Michelle Obama's tweet volume was so much higher than any of the Republicans. The first lady is better known and active on Twitter herself, Filadelo said. The White House also released a photo of President Barack Obama watching his wife talk along with their two daughters, which was frequently re-tweeted.

[Mikexxxxxxx]

"...DNC's first night beats RNC's in TV ratings..."

No 'chit 'cherlock! The G-No-P had nothing to offer.

[Dancing-in-the-Streets]

Um....George...I just found that million people you said I needed - actually I just found 4 Million People! : )

[meemaaaa]

Dems sitting on the couch in large numbers with nothing better to do?? who would have guessed

[GreedyOldPartee]

Yeah, Clinton is no Eastwood......... LOL

[Rafterman11]

Yeah, Clinton was coherent.

[andie52]

Clinton was more the sage uncle, delivering a tutorial on the real world to wayward nephews Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan in sorrow, not anger.
He even went out of his way to make nice with both Presidents Bush, who weren't treated nearly so well in Tampa.

[jwilsonte]

of course 5 millon more watch DNC than RNC. RNC is nothing but bunch over the hill self serving women abusing old men for most part.read the writing on the wall girls it over scumballs LOL

[CaptainSmollett]

On the first day of the GOP convention, hurricane Issac was barreling toward New Orleans on the anniversary of Katrina with major news coverage directly competing for viewership. The DNC had no such distraction. The assertions of this article are absolutely 100% bogus, and proves nothing other than this journalist is clueless, along with everyone who thinks it implies anything whatsoever.

[signseeker1717]

Yeah, everyone who disagrees with you is "clueless". Must be lonely.

[Rafterman11]

Um, the hurricane didn't hit the entire county and no one was "distracted".

LOL. The Party of Personal Responsibility always has an excuse, don't you?

Well, if you want to play that game. the Dems had to contend with the NFL opening game - a LOT bigger distraction (and ratings magnet) than a low level hurricane.

[venusvegasvada]

"It's not exactly clear why Michelle Obama's tweet volume was so much higher than any of the Republicans"

Maybe it's because she's a real person who simply spoke from the heart and people can actually recognize the difference between reality and advertising.

[DestructoMax]

Your joking right a real person?

[Rafterman11]

Yes, a real person. People like Michelle. Ann seems less approachable (e.g., her "you people" comment)

[soylentcorp]

Yeah, it either means more Dems are glued to the tube, or Repubs are more open-minded enough to actually sit, watch and laugh at the other side.

[erichsh]

Still waiting for a "fact check" from CBS regarding ANY Democrat. Want proof? Go to Google and search "fact check site:cbsnews.com". You will find page after page of "fact checks" critical of Republicans going back months if not years, but only one - ONE! - story challenging a Democrat.

[signseeker1717]

Could it be they just aren't chronic liars that NEED that many checks?

[CaptainSmollett]

Well, 26.2 million is about 8% of the population, so I guess that implies that 92% of the population doesn't give a .....

[allenndc]

According to the ratings the Republican convention had even fewer viewers,so even more people couldn't give a....