Republicans lose out to Democrats in first night convention TV ratings: 15.9 million tune in for first night of Donald Trump's coronation - compared to 18.7 for Joe Biden

Fewer TV viewers tuned into the first night of the Republican National Convention than watched the opening night of the Democratic National Convention last week.

Nielsen found, according to The Los Angeles Times , that night No. 1 of the RNC averaged 15.9 million viewers, while last Monday's DNC averaged 18.7 million.

The audience for both political conventions, which are being held 'virtually' due to the coronavirus pandemic, was down 28 per cent from the 2016 coronations of Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton .

Former first lady Michelle Obama (left) and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott (right) were the final speeches of the night for the Democrats and the Republicans, respectively, during the first night of the conventions

The first night of the Republican National Convention, which like the Democrats' is mostly 'virtual,' also featured former United Nations Amb. Nikki Haley

Kimberly Guilfoyle (left) and her boyfriend Donald Trump Jr. (right) also appeared during the first night of the Republican National Convention

Sen. Bernie Sanders, nominee Joe Biden's final primary rival, also spoke during the first night of the DNC

Republican former Ohio Gov. John Kasich spoke at the first night of the DNC, telling viewers he was crossing the aisle to vote for Democrat Joe Biden

The final audience count for Monday night's DNC was 19.7 million when additional channels were averaged in.

That figure isn't yet available for Monday night's RNC.

Four years ago, the first three nights of the DNC did better in the television ratings than the first three nights of the RNC, but then Trump's acceptance speech beat out Clinton's Thursday night television appearance.

Then, Trump won by a margin of 2.4 million viewers, according to Nielsen.

When PBS was factored in that margin shrank to 900,000 viewers - with Trump getting 34.9 million and Clinton receiving 33.8 million.

'We beat her by millions,' Trump boasted at a Friday rally he held after both conventions wrapped up, reported CNN .

Monday night's DNC featured appearance by disaffected Republicans including former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who endorsed Democratic nominee Joe Biden, along with Sen. Bernie Sanders, Biden's final rival in this year's Democratic primary fight and concluded with an address by former first lady Michelle Obama.

DNC organizers expected Obama's Monday night speech to be the second biggest draw after Biden.

Monday night's RNC featured two short appearances by Trump - as he talked with first responders and then American hostages his administration helped free - at the White House.

Donald Trump Jr., his girlfriend and former Fox News personality Kimberly Guilfoyle, former United Nations Amb. Nikki Haley and Sen. Tim Scott also spoke.

Fox News Channel reaped the most benefits of viewership for the Republicans' first night, bringing in an average of 7.1 million viewers between 10 and 11 p.m. The second highest cable network was CNN with an average of 2 million viewers.

The Fox News Channel show 'Hannity' saw an average of 6.8 million viewers in the 9 p.m. hour, which was the second largest audience ever for the show.

Last week the DNC's top cable network was MSNBC, which is the most politically in line with the Democratic Party.

Culled from dailymail