Fox News Wins RNC Thursday Coverage As Overall Viewership Plunges 31% From 2008

Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan continue to draw smaller TV crowds than the 2008 Republican Party duo of John McCain and Sarah Palin. The grand finale of this year’s Republican National Convention featuring Presidential candidate Romney’s acceptance speech and an introduction by Clint Eastwood drew a total of 25.3 million viewers last night from 10-11 PM on ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox News Channel, CNN and MSNBC. That was down 31% from the final hour of the 2008 GOP convention.

Fox News Channel once again dominated coverage with 9.1 million viewers, only 2% down from 2008. The declines were far steeper for the other networks: ABC (4.4 million, down 26%), NBC (3.9 million, down 56%), CBS (3.7 million, down 30%), CNN (2.3 million, down 52%) and MSNBC (1.9 million, down 25%).

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