Roughly 17 million people watched the first night of the Republican National Convention on television during the primary speech hours between 10 p.m.-11 p.m. EST Monday night, according to Nielsen ratings.
Why it matters: That’s down more than 26% from the number of TV viewers for the first night of the 2016 RNC. It’s also 13% lower than the number of TV viewers who watched the first night of the Democratic National Convention last week.
The ratings drop at both the DNC and RNC is likely attributable to the fact that both conventions were mostly pre-taped, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and fewer people watch live television now.