African American households tuned into the first night of the Democratic Convention at a rate more than 50 percent higher than the all homes that viewed first night coverage . Nielsen says homes with an African American head of household delivered a combined 24 rating to the channels that carried the Dem’s first night coverage. Comparing that rating to Total TV HHs shows that African American TV families were 59 percent more likely to tune in during the evening that featured Michelle Obama’s speech than total households.
| TV Households | Rating | Rating Indexed To Total TVHHs |
| Total | 15.1 | 100 |
| African American | 24.0 | 159 |
| White | 14.6 | 97 |
| Hispanic | 7.3 | 48 |
How to Read: African American Index of 159 = (Black TVHH Rtg/ Total TVHH Rtg) multipled by 100. Or: 100*(24 / 15.1).
More than 19 percent of TVHH viewing to the first night of the Democratic National Convention for that evening came from African American TV HHs, a higher percentage than the 12.8 percent composition that blacks represent in the total US population. The combined rating is based on viewership to ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX News Channel, MSNBC, BET and TV One convention coverage.
Source: The Nielsen Company, US Census