According to a Nielsen analysis released Tuesday, “hockey moms” — defined as women ages 25 to 54 who live in homes with children and who watched at least six minutes of the most recent Stanley Cup Finals on NBC – were more likely than average moms to watch the first two debates of the 2008 election.

Last Thursday, Sen. Joe Biden and Gov. Sarah Palin’s V.P. debate drew 23.8% of all mothers (ages 25 to 54), while 33% of those women defined as “hockey moms” tuned in.  Overall, “hockey moms” were 38.7% more likely than average moms to have watched the V.P. debate.

In comparison, the first debate between Senators McCain and Obama, on Sept. 26, drew 16.5% of all mothers (25 to 54).  Among those classified as “hockey moms,” however, 21.3% tuned in to the debate, making “hockey moms” 29.1% more likely than average moms to have watched the McCain and Obama’s debate.

Read coverage of Nielsen’s findings in the Boston Herald and Broadcasting & Cable.

Wednesday night’s RNC broadcasts attracted just a 1.1 million fewer viewers than Barack Obama’s record-breaking speech on day four of the Democratic convention. 

Coverage of day three of the GOP convention drew a large female audience (19.5 million) — 5.2 million more women than tuned in for day two of the Democratic convention, when Hillary Clinton addressed the delegates, and 6.9 million more women than watched Joe Biden accept the Democrats’ vice presidential nomination last Wednesday night.

Viewers age 55 and older also continued to dominate the RNC’s TV audience, with 25.2% of all Americans in that age group — 17.9 million people — watching Wednesday night’s coverage on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX News Channel, and MSNBC.

The TV audience for day three of the 2008 GOP convention was significantly larger (+99%) than the audience for the same night during the 2004 convention, which drew 18.7 million viewers.

On Wednesday, September 3, 2008, convention coverage varied by network, with all six networks noted above airing live coverage from approximately 10pm to 11:15pm EST.

View the full media alert.

Read coverage of Nielsen’s findings in the Los Angeles Times, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Boston Herald, and on the BBC’s website and MarketWatch.com.

Tuesday night’s speeches by Former Senator Fred Thompson and Senator Joe Lieberman drew many more women (11.2 million) than men (9.5 million), as was also the case on day two of the Democratic convention, when Hillary Clinton delivered her endorsement of Barack Obama.

So far, coverage of the GOP convention has not drawn the large numbers of African American viewers that the Democrats’ convention attracted last week.  On Tuesday night, 2.1 million African American viewers (5.8% of all African Americans) tuned in for coverage of the RNC.  In comparison, more than double that number — 4.6 million African Americans (12.7% of all African Americans) — tuned in to day two of the DNC.

Compared to day two of the 2004 GOP convention, which drew more than 22 million viewers, the audience for day two of the 2008 convention was slightly lower, with approximately 600,000 fewer viewers.  

On Tuesday, September 2, 2008, convention coverage varied by network, with ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX News Channel, and MSNBC airing live coverage from approximately 10pm to 11pm EST.

On Monday, September 1, the first night of the GOP convention, TV coverage of Hurricane Gustav replaced planned coverage of the convention on most broadcast and cable networks.  As a result, Nielsen did not be provide audience estimates for Monday night’s convention.

View the full media alert.

Read coverage of Nielsen’s findings in the Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, Ad Age, TV Week, and Variety.