UPDATED, with additional numbers: Viewership for the first night of the Republican National Convention increased slightly from 2020. An estimated 18.13 million people tuned in to watch the 10 p.m. ET hour across 12 networks, according to Nielsen.
RNC LIVE: Day 1 at the Republican National Convention
That’s slightly more than the first night of the 2020 Republican National Convention, held in Washington and largely virtual because of the Covid pandemic, which drew 17 million people across 11 networks.
Viewership on the first night of the 2024 convention was still lower than in 2016, when an estimated 23 million people watched across seven networks.
Major networks aired the final hour of the convention on Monday, highlighted by Donald Trump’s arrival at the Fiserv Forum, his first public appearance since surviving an assassination attempt. Speakers during the hour included Amber Rose and Sean O’Brien, the president of the Teamsters.
