Democrats pull in more opening night convention viewers than Republicans

Call it the Michelle Obama effect. Approximately three million more viewers tuned in to watch the coverage of the first night of the 2016 Democratic National Convention, beating the first night of the Republican convention 26 million viewers to 23 million viewers, according to Nielsen data that recorded the number of traditional TV viewers. The Democrats' count might still go up too, after the ratings for smaller channels get tallied, CNN reports.

Despite being a little rough around the edges, the Democrats trotted out their stars for the night, with Michelle Obama, Elizabeth Warren, and Bernie Sanders all speaking. At the RNC's first night, the keynote speaker was Melania Trump, who came under fire shortly afterward for plagiarizing Michelle Obama.

As an exception, Fox News actually had a higher rating for the Republican convention than the Democratic convention. The network said that its Republican convention coverage was its "highest-rated week in total day since August 2005 with Hurricane Katrina coverage."

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