Republican and Democratic conventions battle for the ratings amid COVID-19

The lack of a huge boisterous audience appears to have taken a toll on the Republican National Convention and Democratic National Convention. Both suffered a drop of viewers during their respective events, primarily due to production restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic.

On opening night last week, the Democratic version drew 19.7 million viewers according to Nielsen Media Research — a 28% drop compared to opening night in 2016. The Republican first night offering garnered 17 million on Monday — which also constituted a 28% drop in numbers compared to years ago

Fox News enjoyed the largest single audience during the GOP event, pulling in 7.1 million viewers on the first night. On the other side of the aisle, MSNBC held the record for the Democratic gathering, drawing 5.1 million. Meanwhile, CNN attracted 2 million viewers, followed by ABC (1.9 million), NBC (1.7 million), MSNBC (1.5 million) and CBS (1.4 million).

Not everyone was happy with Fox News, however. White House adviser Brad Parscale cited the network for breaking away from the convention itself on opening night, just as Turning Point founder Charlie Kirk began to speak. The network opted instead to interview Sen. John Kennedy, Louisiana Republican.

“I can’t believe I have to watch the convention on CNN. Unbelievable, Fox News,” Mr. Parscale tweeted at the time.

“Very appreciative that CNN covered the vast majority of the Republican Convention last night. That was really good for CNN, while at the same time being good for our Country. Thank you!” President Trump also noted in a tweet.

Fox News does hold the all-time audience record during a campaign. The network drew an unprecedented audience of 24 million during a 2015 debate between then-candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. It was hosted by a Fox News team that included then-anchor Megyn Kelly — and emerged as the highest-rated debate and also the highest-rated cable news program in history.

The Republicans did have a significant victory this week. C-SPAN’s livestream of the first night of the Republican convention attracted 440,000 views, marking a substantial increase over the start of the Democratic convention, which drew 76,000 views, according to the public affairs channel. The numbers suggest that Republicans were more eager to tune into C-SPAN, which presents events without commentary.

Which party event proved most popular? That answer will likely be available Friday when the final numbers for the Republican convention will be released by Nielsen. The Democrats averaged between 18 million and 21 million a night during their four-night run last week.