(Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump’s Thursday night speech accepting the Republican Party’s nomination for president attracted a TV audience of 25.4 million viewers across 14 networks, Nielsen said Friday.
The convention broadcast, which featured Trump’s first major televised speech since surviving a July 13 assassination attempt, drew more viewers than the 23.8 million who tuned in for the final day of the convention in 2020, according to Nielsen. More than 32 million watched Trump’s first acceptance speech in 2016.
Fox Corp. said its flagship news channel led the ratings.
Traditional TV continues to lose subscribers, but live events remain among the most popular. The Republican Party live-streamed the convention to its YouTube and X channels, competing for viewers. A number of networks, including Fox, PBS, and CBS had free streams available on their YouTube channels, too.
Thursday’s program in Milwaukee featured speeches from professional wrestler Hulk Hogan, conservative political commentator Tucker Carlson, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Eric Trump.
Trump was introduced by Dana White, chief executive officer of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, followed by a musical performance from American rapper Kid Rock.
The former president, whose right ear was bandaged, started off by describing the failed assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally. Trump spoke for 93 minutes, making the longest convention speech in modern history, according to the Associated Press.
The Democratic National Convention kicks off on Aug. 19 in Chicago.
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