LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Hillary Clinton’s history-making speech at the Democratic National Convention attracted a smaller U.S. television audience than rival Donald Trump’s address a week earlier, according to Nielsen ratings data released on Friday.
An estimated 29.8 million people watched Thursday night on 10 broadcast and cable networks when Clinton became the first woman to accept a major U.S. party’s nomination for president, Nielsen said.
Trump’s July 21 address at the Republican National Convention drew 32.2 million viewers, according to Nielsen.
That reversed a pattern from earlier in the week. Ratings for the Democratic convention beat the Republicans’ event on each of the first three nights.
CNN, owned by Time Warner Inc <TWX.N>, pulled in the biggest audience – 7.5 million viewers – for Clinton’s speech and the introduction by her daughter, Chelsea. Comcast Corp’s <CMCSA.O> MSNBC cable channel finished second with 5.3 million viewers.
Clinton, a former secretary of state and first lady, will face New York businessman and reality television star Trump in the Nov. 8 election.
Both candidates fell short of records for a political convention television audience. The biggest convention ratings measured by Nielsen came in 2008 when Republican John McCain pulled in 38.9 million viewers and Democrat Barack Obama had 38.4 million.
The Nielsen figures do not include viewership on digital streaming platforms, which have jumped in popularity in recent years and taken viewers away from traditional television.
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Leslie Adler)
