The final night of the Republican National Convention drew a total of 23.8 million TV viewers, more than the three previous nights but fewer than the final night of the Democratic National Convention, according to data released Friday by the measurement company Nielsen.
About 24.6 million viewers tuned in across cable and TV for Biden's speech last week.
TV viewership for the conventions was down broadly for both parties, though online viewership has showed signs of picking up. Still, the final night of the RNC dropped off significantly from 2016 when 32.2 million people tuned in.
Fox News easily topped all other cable news and broadcast channels on Thursday night with 7.8 million viewers. It averaged 7.9 million viewers per night during the convention's four days.
But strong interest on Fox News belied lower ratings for other channels. MNSBC drew almost 2 million viewers on Thursday, slightly more than CNN's 1.8 million viewers.
NBCUniversal is the parent company of MSNBC and NBC News.
The initial ratings numbers that came out Friday were quickly seized on by TJ Ducklo, the national press secretary for the Biden campaign, who took the opportunity to take a jab at the president on Twitter.
Attention now turns to the upcoming presidential debates. The ratings for the three debates of 2016 set records, drawing a total of 259 million viewers.
The first debate is scheduled for Sept. 29, followed by debates on Oct. 15 and Oct. 22. The vice presidential debate is scheduled for Oct. 7.
