DNC audience holds steady above 20 million for third night, Nielsen ratings

For the third night in a row, the Democratic National Convention drew more than 20 million viewers, according to Nielsen.

Wednesday's on-stage lineup included stars like John Legend and Oprah Winfrey and a keynote address from Vice Presidential nominee Tim Walz.

Nearly 20.2 million viewers tuned in Wednesday night, compared to 20.8 million Tuesday night and 20 million Monday night, Nielsen said in a Thursday release. By comparison, the third night of the Republican National Convention in July drew nearly 18 million viewers.

A younger subset of the audience has grown night-over-night, according to Nielsen data, as the audience aged 18 to 34 grew 13.5% from Monday to Wednesday.

Experts say long-run convention viewership has been waning, but the element of the unexpected can bring audiences back.

DNC Day 4: Live coverage of speaker schedule, Kamala Harris to take the stage

Looking back at previous RNC and DNC ratings

For convention audience, Nielsen measures the percentage of television-owning households that tuned in. The Nielsen data captured audience from 12 television networks for Wednesday night.

The household ratings for the third night of the 2024 Democratic convention was 11.9, Nielsen's release stated.

The final day of the conventions usually draw the most viewers.

Here are the day-by-day Nielsen ratings for the recent conventions:

2024 RNC

• 2024 RNC Day 4 - 14.3

• 2024 RNC Day 3 - 10.6

• 2024 RNC Day 2 - 8.9

• 2024 RNC Day 1 - 10.6

2020 RNC

• 2020 RNC Day 4 - 14.7

• 2020 RNC Day 3 - 11.0

• 2020 RNC Day 2 - 12.2

• 2020 RNC Day 1 - 10.7

2020 DNC

• 2020 DNC Day 4 - 15.6

• 2020 DNC Day 3 - 14.6

• 2020 DNC Day 2 - 12.6

• 2020 DNC Day 1 - 12.7

How to watch the Democratic National Convention

The convention is taking place Monday through Thursday this week at the United Center, home of the Chicago Bulls and Blackhawks, will be the main venue for the DNC. Chicago has hosted the Democratic Convention 11 times, most recently in 1996 when the United Center saw President Bill Clinton was nominated for a second time.

The convention will air live on its website, from the United Center in Chicago between 7 p.m to 11 p.m. Eastern (6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Central).

USA TODAY will provide livestream coverage on YouTube each night of the DNC, Monday through Thursday.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: DNC ratings: Third night brings 20.2 million viewers, Nielsen