Staff Reports
The Democrats must be pulling their hair out over the disastrous ratings from the first night of the Democratic National Convention (DNC), which plummeted by a staggering 22% from 2016, according to Nielsen data. It appears Vice President Kamala Harris, who the left-leaning media have touted as a political superstar, isn’t entirely cutting it with viewers. Instead of breaking records for excitement, Harris and the Democrats delivered a facepalm moment. This kind of leaves viewers scratching their heads and wondering if they accidentally tuned into a rerun of last year’s soap opera instead.
A mere 20 million people tuned in for the opening night, which may sound impressive at first glance, but when stacked against the 2016 numbers, it’s nothing less than a ratings disaster. Sure, that number slightly beat the 2020 virtual convention, but that’s like bragging about being the tallest kid in kindergarten. Most of the action happened within a single hour when around 19.1 million viewers tuned in during President Biden’s speech. Of course, the highlights were tempered by the reality that this is a far cry from the excitement surrounding the last election cycle.
Nielsen: DNC Television Ratings Crash 22% from 2016 https://t.co/N9OrHjMHQk via @BreitbartNews
— Michael J. Fell (@MichaelJFell) August 21, 2024
The rating game was won by none other than MSNBC, leading the pack with a respectable 4.6 million viewers, followed by CNN, ABC, Fox News, CBS, and NBC, trailing behind like a pack of sleepy puppies. However, one must wonder if MSNBC is seeing inflated numbers due to viewers desperate for entertainment—like watching a train wreck in slow motion. This year’s DNC is shaping up to be a night to remember—not for good reasons, but for the overblown expectations that were swiftly deflated.
One doesn’t need a crystal ball to see that the ratings crash comes as a surprise, especially given the media’s relentless cheerleading for Harris’s “historic” candidacy. The constant barrage of positive coverage, which reportedly swung 84% in her favor, and an outrageous 89% negative slant toward Donald Trump, seems to have had minimal impact on actual viewer interest. Perhaps the public is finally tuning into the reality that a media hype machine doesn’t automatically translate to popularity.
Additionally, a survey revealed that a staggering 70% of registered Democrats and independents who supported Biden in 2020 still haven’t clued into the frighteningly radical positions Harris holds. If they want to stay in the dark about her controversial views, they might need to turn off their TVs—clearly, they aren’t getting the whole story from the mainstream media. On day two of the circus, headlines suggested things didn’t improve, with a torrent of negative assessments flooding in about the DNC’s organization, weak talking points, and the chaos brewing outside the convention center. The Democrats are dealing with a PR crisis that even the best spin doctor may struggle to finesse.
