DNC Convention TV Ratings Tank

Preliminary estimates show that viewership for the first night of the Democrats’ virtual convention was down compared with the opening of Hillary Clinton’s nominating party four years ago, reports The Associated Press.

An estimated 18.7 million people watched coverage between 10 and 11 p.m. on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC, the Nielsen company said. Four years ago, opening night drew just under 26 million viewers.

Nielsen’s preliminary numbers did not include streaming or networks like PBS and CSPAN.

MSNBC and CNN, which aired the Democrats’ two-hour prepared telecast essentially in its entirety, were rewarded with the biggest audiences. MSNBC had 5.1 million viewers and CNN had 4.78 million, roughly twice what the broadcast networks reached.

Fox News Channel’s audience of 2.1 million viewers was smaller than what time slot occupant Laura Ingraham reaches on a typical night.

Those networks that didn’t air the Democrats’ program in its entirety struggled to keep up Monday.