Trump convention speech draws 32.2 million TV viewers
LOS ANGELES (AP) - The Nielsen company says an estimated 32.2 million people watched Donald Trump deliver his GOP nomination acceptance speech.
Thursday's audience topped the 30.3 million who watched nominee Mitt Romney's 2012 speech but fell well short of John McCain's audience of 38.9 million at the 2008 Republican convention.
This year's tally reflects viewership across 10 commercial networks, Nielsen said Friday, topped by Fox News Channel with 9.4 million viewers.
The channel's triumph came the same day that its founder and chief, Roger Ailes, resigned amid a former anchorwoman's claims of workplace misconduct.
For the closing hour of the four-day convention, CNN drew 5.5 million viewers; NBC, 4.6 million; ABC, 3.9 million; CBS, 3.8 million; and MSNBC, 3 million.
PBS, the non-commercial Public Broadcasting Service, drew 1.9 million viewers.
The Democratic convention begins next week in Philadelphia.