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32.2 million watched Trump accept GOP nomination

An average of 32.2 million people watched Donald Trump accept the Republican nomination on Thursday night across ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, Univision, Fox Business Network, CNBC and NBC Universo, according to ratings data from Nielsen. Millions more likely tuned in on other networks that are not rated by Nielsen (such as C-SPAN), and on streaming video services, which are not included in the average.

That average is up slightly from the final night of the 2012 RNC, when Mitt Romney accepted the GOP nomination. That night 30.2 million people watched across 11 networks. The 2016 ratings are down substantially from 2008's final night, when John McCain's address averaged just under 39 million viewers.

During the 10 p.m. hour up through 11:45 p.m. last night, which made up Trump's speech and his introduction from daughter Ivanka, Fox News averaged 9.35 million viewers, NBC 4.59 million viewers, CNN 5.48 million viewers, ABC 3.87 million viewers, CBS 3.81 million viewers, and MSNBC 2.95 million viewers.

In the adults 25-54 demographic that TV news channels sell against, Fox News also led the pack, with CNN placing second.