“Engagement” refers to the amount of attention paid to a television program by the average viewer.  Nielsen measures TV engagement by questioning a representative panel of viewers about their recall of specific telecasts’ content.

John McCain’s acceptance speech on September 4 drew the most attentive audience of uncommitted viewers, Nielsen reported.  Telecasts of Barack Obama’s and Sarah Palin’s acceptance speeches on August 28 and September 3, respectively, tied in second place as the second most engaging telecasts among uncommitted viewers.

Overall, viewers were more engaged by the telecasts of the RNC vs. the DNC.  Registered voters were 10% more engaged by the RNC than the DNC, while likely voters were 12% more engaged in RNC viewing. 

Male viewers were among the most attentive RNC viewers (15% higher engagement with RNC than DNC), as were older viewers, ages 35 and older, who were 13% more engaged by the RNC than the DNC. 

In contrast, younger viewers, ages 18 to 34, were 13% more engaged by the DNC, as compared with the RNC.

Read coverage of Nielsen’s findings in The Boston Globe and The Huffington Post.

More than 38.9 million people tuned in to coverage of the final night of the GOP convention.  In comparison, Obama’s acceptance speech at the Democratic convention drew 38.4 million viewers.

For the third night in a row, more women (19.2 million) than men (17.9 million) watched the RNC coverage.  Still, McCain’s speech drew significantly more men than Obama’s acceptance speech (16.2 million).  In contrast, Obama drew more women (19.9 million) than McCain.

White viewers flocked to their TV’s for McCain’s speech (32.2 million vs. 27 million for Obama).   But among African Americans, the reverse was true: 7.5 million African Americans watched Obama’s speech last week, while just 3.1 million tuned in for McCain’s speech.

The TV audience for day four of the GOP convention was larger (+41%) than the audience for the same night during the 2004 convention, which drew 27.5 million viewers.

On Thursday, September 4, 2008, convention coverage varied by network, with ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX News Channel, MSNBC, Telemundo, and Univision airing live coverage from approximately 10pm to 11:15pm EST.

Note:  Nielsen’s new universe estimates for the 2008-09 television season took effect on September 1, 2008, reflecting a 1.3% increase in TV households and viewers aged two or older.  As a result, each rating point represents more households and persons.  Read about the new totals.

View the full media alert.

Read coverage of Nielsen’s findings in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, Multichannel News, Ad Age, and on MarketWatch.com.