Newly minted Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton raked in the ratings this week as she became America's first female presidential candidate for a major political party – but she was unable to top Republican rival Donald Trump's numbers on the final night of the convention.

Ratings data published Friday by Nielsen showed that roughly 30 million Americans watched Hillary Clinton's acceptance speech Thursday night at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. For comparison's sake, more than 32 million tuned in for Trump's acceptance speech last week in Cleveland.

The Republican National Convention's Day 4 ratings beat Democrats' final day in Philadelphia. But the Democratic convention had stronger viewership overall. Andrew Soergel for USN&WR; Source: Nielsen



Ratings for the first three nights of the Democratic National Convention consistently finished ahead of last week's Republican event in Cleveland. DNC viewership was bolstered by speeches and appearances from a cavalcade of left-leaning political heavyweights like President Barack Obama and a star-studded stable of celebrities – including Alicia Keys, Demi Lovato, Elizabeth Banks, Sarah Silverman, Meryl Streep, Eva Longoria and Lena Dunham, to name a few.

But Clinton's final night in Philadelphia fell short of Trump's last hurrah in Cleveland. Even before Nielsen's final metrics were released, though, Trump on Friday afternoon crowed about his victory in the ratings battle, boasting that he "beat her by millions on television – millions."

"Really, we beat her by a lot. But, honestly, the numbers were incredible," he said Friday during a speech in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Heading into Clinton's final day in Philadelphia, the Trump campaign circulated a fundraising email urging supporters to avoid watching Clinton's acceptance speech "unless you want to be lied to, belittled and attacked for your beliefs." Indeed, Trump uncharacteristically inserted himself into the news cycle throughout the Democrats' week in Philadelphia, on Tuesday asking Russian hackers to find Clinton's deleted emails and on Wednesday hosting a Reddit AMA that coincided with the third night of Clinton's Democratic convention.

It's worth noting that ratings for both the Democratic and Republican events this year lagged behind the numbers posted in conventions past. Although the 2012 Democratic convention spanned only three days, average viewership that year stood head and shoulders above the numbers that Clinton posted this year.

The 2016 Democratic National Convention's ratings fell short of conventions past. In 2012, the convention spanned only three days. Andrew Soergel for USN&WR; Source: Nielsen



And although Trump surpassed 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney's ratings on most nights of his convention this year, he consistently fell short of the tally garnered by Sen. John McCain of Arizona during his GOP convention in 2008.

The Republican National Convention's viewership this year was a far cry from the 2008 event, headlined by Arizona Sen. John McCain. The first day of the 2012 and 2008 GOP conventions were both canceled. Andrew Soergel for USN&WR; Source: Nielsen



Ratings calculations don't take most streaming services into account, so the gradual shift toward online viewership likely contributed to both parties' soft ratings this year, especially among younger demographics .

Clinton, for what it's worth, has been relatively quiet on the ratings front. Trump boasted last week of his convention's " Big T.V. ratings! " before his final numbers came out. But he backtracked on that exclamation this week, telling The New York Times that he "didn't produce our show" and simply "showed up for the final speech."