Fox News wins Tuesday night’s Republican National Convention coverage

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After CNN dominated coverage of the Democratic National Convention last week, Fox News regained the upper hand Tuesday night when the Republicans took the stage, drawing a bigger audience than any of its broadcast or cable news competitors.

Fox News attracted an average of 6.18 million viewers during the 7 p.m. PDT hour when Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman addressed the GOP gathering in St. Paul. NBC placed second with 4.47 million viewers, followed by CNN with 3.22 million, beating out ABC, CBS and MSNBC.

This marks the second such victory for Fox News. In 2004, the cable news network also attracted the most viewers with its coverage of the Republican convention.

In all, 21.5 million viewers tuned in to watch the second night of the Republican National Convention this week, slightly less than the 22 million who watched the coverage the same night in 2004, according to Nielsen Media Research. Practically speaking, Tuesday marked the first night of this year’s RNC, since GOP leaders scrapped most of Monday night’s schedule due to Hurricane Gustav, the focus of news coverage that night.

Increasingly, viewers have been turning to cable news for coverage of the conventions. Fox News’ rebound to the top spot on Tuesday comes after CNN emerged the victor last week. During the four days of the Democratic convention, CNN averaged 5.6 million viewers in the key 7 p.m. PDT hour, edging out NBC’s 5.5 million. ABC placed third with 4.6 million viewers, followed by CBS, Fox News and MSNBC.

— Matea Gold

(Photo Sen. Joe Lieberman courtesy Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)