You are viewing the archive: “Democratic National Convention”

MTV’s VMAs Fall Hard From 2011

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Friday September 7, 2012 @ 2:59pm PDTTags: Barack Obama, Democratic National Convention, MTV, MTV Video Music Awards, Ratings

Somebody does not want their MTV. Despite being the top show on cable last night, the network’s Video Music Awards lost more than half its audience compared with the 2011 show, which drew a record 12.4 million viewers. Last night’s VMAs pulled in 6.1 million and earned a 2.8 rating, far below 2011’s 6.2. There certainly were a lot of changes this year: Back in May, MTV decided to move the start time of the two-hour show ahead an hour to 8 PM so it didn’t conflict with President Obama’s 10 PM speech at the Democratic National Convention. The show also moved from airing on a Sunday to a Thursday.

Related: MTV Moves Video Music Awards Start Time For Obama Speech

While the network wasn’t a big winner with the event, which was broadcast from LA’s Staples Center for the first time, the Simon Cowell-created One Direction was. The boy band won three awards including Best New Artist. Comedian Kevin Hart hosted the show, with Taylor Swift, Pink and Rihanna, who won the Video of the Year award for a second time, among the performers.

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Fox News Wins Overall GOP & DNC Convention Coverage

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Friday September 7, 2012 @ 12:23pm PDTTags: Democratic National Convention, Fox News, Republican National Convention

Over six days of primetime political party coverage, Fox News Channel has come out on top among the networks and its cable news rivals. In the 10-11 PM ET hour, according to Nielsen, Fox pulled in an average of 5.33 million viewers over the three nights of the Republican National Convention and the three nights of the Democratic National Convention. Fox News’ closest competitor was NBC, which garnered an average audience of 5.03 million. However, NBC’s numbers are averaged over five nights, not six. The numbers don’t include anything from Wednesday for NBC as the network aired the NFL season opener instead. Read More »

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RATINGS RAT RACE: NBC Wins Last Night Of DNC, ‘America’s Got Talent’ Hits Series Low, ‘Big Brother’ Up, ‘Rookie Blue’ Finale Way Up

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Friday September 7, 2012 @ 9:14am PDTTags: America's Got Talent, Democratic National Convention, Ratings

Barack Obama TV Ratings ConventionPresident Obama accepted his party’s nomination last night and NBC returned to take the top spot in coverage of the Democratic National Convention. But then the numbers were stacked in the network’s favor: NBC, which didn’t broadcast any of Wednesday’s DNC because of its NFL season opener, doubled up on Thursday, beginning its broadcast live from Charlotte at 9 PM EDT — an hour before ABC and CBS. NBC’s coverage earned a 2.1/6 rating in fast nationals. That was up from last week’s one-hour live broadcast of the closing night of the Republican National Convention but down 5% from its 9:53-11:02 PM EDT coverage four years ago at the DNC in Denver. ABC landed a 1.0/3 rating last night, about flat with the final night of the RNC but down a steep 50% from its 10-11:07 coverage in 2008. CBS’ coverage last night received a 0.9/2, down from last week’s RNC and falling 31% from its 2008 broadcast on the comparative night. NBC drew 8.03 million viewers in the 10-11 PM ET slot compared with ABC’s 3.67 million and CBS’ 3.03 million. Coverage wasn’t time-zone adjusted and the numbers will likely change later in the day. NBC won the night among adults 18-49 and in total viewers. Read More »

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George Clooney Lends Voice To Obama

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Thursday September 6, 2012 @ 7:55pm PDTTags: Barack Obama, Democratic National Convention, George Clooney

“We’ve been through a lot together,” the Oscar winner tonight told the Democratic Convention. Not George Clooney in person but his voice. The big supporter and fundraiser for Barack Obama narrated the short film that introduced the President … Read More »

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Obama Relies On Hollywood Film (Again)

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Thursday September 6, 2012 @ 6:41pm PDTTags: Davis Guggenheim, Democratic National Convention, Tom Hanks

The film that Tom Hanks and Davis Guggenheim made for Barack Obama’s reelection campaign earlier this year was played at the DNC tonight. Actually it was an edited version of The Road We’ve Traveled that the delegates in … Read More »

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Eva Longoria Takes Poised Aim At Mitt Romney At Democratic Convention

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Thursday September 6, 2012 @ 5:42pm PDTTags: Democratic National Convention, Desperate Housewives, Eva Longoria

UPDATE, 5:42 PM: “Let me tell you something, the Eva Longoria who worked at Wendy’s flipping burgers, she needed a tax break but the Eva Longoria who works on movie sets does not,” the former Desperate … Read More »

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Scarlett Johansson & Kerry Washington Urge Democrats To Get Out The Vote

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Thursday September 6, 2012 @ 4:48pm PDTTags: Democratic National Convention, Kerry Washington, Scarlett Johansson, The Avengers

“What has been accomplished and what is at stake, whether we can get health care, afford to go to college, be guaranteed equal pay, all of these things are at great great risk,” The Avengers star told the … Read More »

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Fox News Gives Free Rides To Conventioneers

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Thursday September 6, 2012 @ 4:47pm PDTTags: Democratic National Convention, Fox News, Republican National Convention

Fox News ChannelInstead of hosting lounges at the Republican and Democratic conventions, Fox News Channel has been providing free rides to delegates and other conventioneers. Advertising Age reports the network provided cab service in Charlotte … Read More »

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ABC Wins Convention Day 2 Coverage; ‘Honey Boo Boo’ Ties CNN For Key Demo

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Thursday September 6, 2012 @ 3:16pm PDTTags: Bill Clinton, Democratic National Convention, TV Ratings

It was Bill Clinton and ABC’s night at the Democratic Convention on Wednesday. However, unlike the former President, the network didn’t come out that far ahead of its competition. ABC pulled in 4.58 million viewers (1.72 million among … Read More »

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Scarlett Johansson And Kerry Washington’s DNC Focus: Student Loans, Women’s Rights

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Thursday September 6, 2012 @ 1:03pm PDTTags: Barack Obama, Democratic National Convention, Kerry Washington, Scarlett Johansson
Mike Fleming

BREAKING: The Democratic Party has firmed Scarlett Johansson and Kerry Washington to give major speeches at the Democratic National Convention tonight at 7 PM. The choice of the actresses is hardly random. Organizers of President Obama‘s re-election campaign have taken a decidedly different track with its use of Hollywood celebrities than the Republicans did last week with Clint Eastwood’s rambling lecture to an empty chair that had many scratching their heads.

Related: Scarlett Johansson, Natalie Portman & Kerry Washington On DNC Schedule: CNN Read More »

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RATINGS RAT RACE: NFL Opener Down, DNC Flat, ‘Big Brother’ & ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ Slip

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Thursday September 6, 2012 @ 9:04am PDTTags: Big Brother, Democratic National Convention, NFL, Ratings

The big shows last night on TV were football and Bill Clinton. The NFL regular season kicked off on NBC (8.7/23) as the Dallas Cowboys beat the defending Super Bowl champs the New York Giants. However, it wasn’t all touchdowns — this year’s 8:30-11 PM ET opener was down 15% from the 10.2/27 fast nationals of last season’s September 8 opener. Nonetheless, the Cowboys-Giants game dominated the night, pulling in 21.81 million viewers and leading NBC to the nightly win in total viewers and adults 18-49. The network’s 8:30 PM NBC Sports NFL Kickoff (5.5/17) was also down from last year, falling 14% from the 6.4/21 of last September 8. Read More »

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Eva Longoria Says She’ll Be No Clint Eastwood At Democratic Convention

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Wednesday September 5, 2012 @ 6:47pm PDTTags: Clint Eastwood, CNN, Democratic National Convention, Eva Longoria

Eva Longoria says unlike Clint Eastwood she will not be bringing out any empty chairs when she speaks to her party’s convention tomorrow. “People keep comparing us because we are both from the entertainment industry and (sic) he had a very different narrative,” the former Desperate Housewives actress told CNN’s Piers Morgan tonight at the DNC. “I come from a very different position than Clint Eastwood,” said the long time Barack Obama supporter and Latino outreach activist. “It was interesting yeah but I haven’t seen the whole thing so it’s not fair for me to judge it,” Longoria said of Eastwood’s unsuccessful appearance as the surprise speaker at the GOP convention last Thursday in Tampa. Longoria, who is a co-chair of the Obama reelection campaign, is scheduled to speak tomorrow night to the delegates in Charlotte, North Carolina on the subject of Hispanic women and education. Read More »

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MSNBC Beats Fox News & CNN In DNC Day 1 Coverage; Total Cable Viewership Up Over RNC

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Wednesday September 5, 2012 @ 12:36pm PDTTags: Democratic National Convention, MSNBC, Ratings

Michelle Obama Speech RatingsMSNBC has fashioned itself as pro-Obama and pro-Democrat, and last night at the Democratic National Convention that stance paid off. The cable news network topped rivals CNN and Fox News in total viewers and the adult 25-54 demo on Day 1 of the DNC, which featured a speech from First Lady Michelle Obama. It is quite the contrast to last week, when Fox News beat both its cable rivals and the networks in its coverage of Day 1 of the Republican Convention and Ann Romney spoke. For one thing, more people were watching the DNC last night on cable news than watched the GOP convention on the same night last week; there were 8,816,574 total viewers watching last night compared to the 7,667,716 between 8-11 PM EDT on August 28. Last night, according to Nielsen, MSNBC had 3,298,273 viewers during its 8-11 PM coverage, 1,067,970 in the 25-54 demo. CNN was next with 3,003,298 viewers and 1,002,048 in the 23-54. FNC was third with 2,515,003 viewers and 554,294 in the demo. That’s a 65% rise for MSNBC from 2008, a a 12% fall for CNN and a 24% drop for Fox News. MSNBC and CNN more than doubled viewership from last week’s RNC, while Fox News went down by 2,635,404.

Related: RATINGS RAT RACE: Democratic Convention Coverage Drops Double Digits For Networks Read More »

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RATINGS RAT RACE: Democratic Convention Coverage Drops Double Digits For Networks, ‘Hell’s Kitchen,’ ‘MasterChef’ & ‘America’s Got Talent’ Down

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Wednesday September 5, 2012 @ 9:14am PDTTags: America's Got Talent, Democratic National Convention, Ratings

Michelle Obama Democratic National ConventionFirst Lady Michelle Obama took over primetime last night at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, NC, but a lot fewer people were watching than back in 2008. Like they had for the GOP convention last week in Tampa, ABC, NBC and CBS all broadcast an hour of the convention live, and they all had double-digit drops from the comparative night of the DNC on August 26, 2008.

With Obama’s speech the big ticket on Day 1, it was NBC that won the night as it did last week at the RNC. The network earned a 1.3/4 rating, down 24% from 2008. ABC had a 0.7/2, down 36% from four years ago. And with a 0.6/2, CBS took the biggest hit, with its coverage down 45% from the comparative night in 2008. In terms of total viewers for the hour, it was a lot like Tuesday at the RNC: NBC’s coverage last night drew 5.33 millon total viewers, CBS 3.22 million and ABC 2.59 million. Based on fast affiliates estimates not being time-zone adjusted, the numbers for the networks’ live coverage are likely to change later today.

Related: Kal Penn Takes A Poke At Clint Eastwood Read More »

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Scarlett Johansson, Natalie Portman & Kerry Washington On DNC Schedule: CNN

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Wednesday September 5, 2012 @ 9:14am PDTTags: Barack Obama, Democratic National Convention, Kerry Washington, Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson

The trio and longtime supporters of President Obama would appear Thursday, the same night Obama and Joe Biden will accept the nomination of their party during the final night of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, NC. CNN … Read More »

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Kal Penn Takes A Poke At Clint Eastwood

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Tuesday September 4, 2012 @ 6:42pm PDTTags: Democratic National Convention, Kal Penn

UPDATE, 6:42 PM: “I’ve worked on a lot of fun movies but my favorite job was having a boss who gave the order to take out Bin Laden and is cool with all of us getting gay married,” Kal Penn told the delegates at the Democratic Convention tonight. “So thank you invisible man in the chair for that,” added Penn taking a dig at Clint Eastwood’s mock Obama interview at the Republican Convention last week. Read More »

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TV/Film Actor Kal Penn To Host Democratic Convention’s Livestream Celebrity Special

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Monday September 3, 2012 @ 6:22am PDTTags: Democratic National Convention, Eva Longoria, Hollywood politics, Kal Penn

Clint Eastwood’s memorable cameo at the recent Republican National Convention was supposed to be kept secret. But it’s widely known that Obama Campaign Co-Chair Eva Longoria, formerly of ABC’s Desperate Housewives, is scheduled to speak during this week’s Democratic National Convention. After stumping for Obama in 2008, and hosting Florida’s Women’s Summit in early August, the Latina activist will be one of 9 women addressing the convention from the podium in Charlotte. But far less publicized is that Kal Penn will host a portion of the DNC’s official gavel-to-gavel livestream. That’s right, the 35-year-old Harold & Kumar stoner star and one-time Houseregular who also worked on Barack Obama’s first campaign and on his arts policy committee and later in his White House. Now he’s back in the thick of Democratic politics. The Indian-American from New Jersey has been visiting 2012 battleground states drumming up Obama support among young voters.  One report claims he’ll take the podium during Tuesday night’s DNC program. But his starring role comes Thursday when he’s hosting a web-only convention special called “Live From Charlotte” starting at 8 PM ET. It will include interviews with campaign officials and Obama supporter celebs including singer Marc Anthony, film actress Elizabeth Banks, CBS’ The Talk cohost Aisha Tyler, TV/film actress Olivia Wilde, The Nanny and now TVLand sitcom star Fran Drescher, TV/film star Zach Braff, and Gilmore Girls‘ Alexis Bledel.

Penn is returning to TV in Rob Greenberg’s single-camera comedy pilot for CBS titled Ex-Men. This past season, he  recurred on that network’s How I Met Your Mother. He also recently toplined ABC’s comedy pilot Prairie Dogs. But he’s probably best known for leaving Fox drama House and acting for a 2-year stint at the White House as associate director in the Office of Public Engagement (under his real name, Kalpen Modi). ”It felt worth trying to be part of such a pivotal moment in history,” Penn told Deadline afterwards. ”And let’s face it, people don’t go into acting for the career stability. You do it because you’re passionate. I found the same true about public service.”

Related: Kal Penn To Co-Star In CBS Comedy Pilot ‘Ex-Men’
Related: Q&A: Kal Penn, On Trading ‘House’ For The White House
Read More »

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