In total, the six networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC) gave all four days of the RNC 40 hours and 32 minutes of live coverage in total, while giving the entirety of the DNC just 28 hours and 24 minutes. Every single network aired more live coverage of the RNC than it did of the DNC.

Part of the difference in coverage was because the RNC’s evening programming lasted 30 minutes longer each day, some of the keynote speeches -- particularly President Donald Trump’s address on night four -- were longer than their DNC counterparts, and the fact that many networks chose to air some daytime coverage on day one of the RNC. 

The biggest discrepancy in coverage was from Fox News, which gave eight more hours of live coverage to the RNC’s programming. Over the course of the entire DNC, Fox aired just 2 hours and 35 minutes -- as a comparison, Fox aired just the last night of the RNC longer than that.

 

There were several key differences between broadcast and cable news coverage of the Democratic National Convention’s first day of programming and the Republican National Convention’s counterpart. The RNC included some midday programming, which many channels chose to air portions of; its programming started earlier in the evening (and ended slightly earlier); and some channels featured mid-programming fact-checking during the RNC, especially MSNBC. Here are the details:

Daytime Coverage

 

The RNC decided to hold an in-person roll call in its host city, Charlotte, North Carolina, during the day, and many networks handed over a portion of their daytime programming to air part of it. Others aired daytime speeches from Vice President Mike Pence and President Donald Trump, and some did both. This was particularly surprising from broadcast channels that had said their convention programming would be contained to one hour at night starting at 10 p.m. EDT. According to The Daily Beast, the Biden campaign was unhappy that CBS and ABC gave Trump bonus airtime by airing part of the daytime RNC programming, including a lie-filled speech from Trump.

CBS, CNN, MSNBC, and Fox all aired large portions of the RNC’s daytime programming -- with CBS and CNN airing roughly 20 minutes, MSNBC airing over an hour, and Fox News airing nearly an hour and a half of daytime coverage.

After airing considerable amounts of Trump’s RNC daytime speech, CBS, CNN, and MSNBC all fact-checked the president’s lies on mail-in voting.

Evening Coverage

Night one of the RNC programming started at 8:30 p.m. EDT, 30 minutes earlier than the DNC convention, and the DNC ran until 11:04 p.m. while the RNC ended at 10:53 p.m.

Fox News aired nearly triple the first-night RNC coverage compared to the first night of the DNC, airing over an hour and a half of the RNC first night’s speeches and videos compared to just over 30 minutes of the DNC’s first night of programming. CNN aired five more minutes of live coverage of the RNC’s first night as compared to the DNC’s, while MSNBC aired 13 more minutes of the DNC’s first night of programming.

The broadcast evening programming aired from 10 until the end of each convention’s programming (around 11 p.m). During that hour, all three broadcast channels aired 36 minutes of live coverage for the RNC. CBS aired a minute less of the first night of the DNC, even though the programming lasted 11 minutes longer during the broadcast’s coverage. ABC and NBC each aired 43 minutes of the first night of the DNC, 7 minutes more than what they aired on the RNC’s first night.

Fact-Checking



According to CNN’s lead fact-checker, Daniel Dale, the first night of the RNC was a “parade of dishonesty.” Dale also noted the imbalance of dishonesty between the two conventions:

MSNBC frequently deployed fact checks to counter the misinformation from speakers at the RNC. When Amy Johnson Ford was speaking, MSNBC put up an on-screen fact check about her coronavirus claims.

Similarly, following Ford’s speech and an RNC video, MSNBC brought in medical contributor Vin Gupta, who noted, “For anybody listening to what the RNC is doing right now, it’s all propaganda — there’s no truth to it,” referring to the claims about the administration’s response to the coronavirus.

MSNBC continued to fact-check throughout the night on the coronavirus, gun regulations, demagoguery about abolishing the suburbs, unemployment, claims Biden wants to defund the police, cancel culture, and other subjects.

CNN provided some context throughout the night’s programming, but not nearly as much as MSNBC. Following a string of speeches, Jake Tapper noted that one of the earlier videos “was complete revisionism when it came to President Trump’s empirically mishandling of the pandemic early on when he dismissed the threat of the virus.”

Live Coverage

Night two of the RNC programming started at 8:30 p.m. EDT, 30 minutes earlier than the DNC convention, and both programs ran until slightly after 11 p.m.

Combined live coverage of the DNC programming from the six networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News and MSNBC) totaled 6 hours and 3 minutes for the second night of the convention, whereas combined live coverage of the RNC totaled 8 hours and 54 minutes on the second night. 

 

The biggest change in coverage between the second day of the DNC and the second day of the RNC was on Fox News, which aired only 33 minutes of the DNC’s programming, but aired 2 hours and 19 minutes of the RNC’s programming. Sean Hannity, who aired under six minutes of the DNC’s night two programming, aired nearly 57 minutes of the RNC on night two. This came after Fox received criticism from Republicans for cutting in and out of the RNC speeches during night one. 

CNN aired nearly 20 minutes more of the RNC evening programming, while MSNBC aired five minutes more of the DNC’s night two programming. 

The broadcast networks each aired more programming from the RNC’s night two than they did for the DNC’s second night. ABC aired 28 minutes of the DNC, compared to 45 minutes of the RNC. CBS aired 25 minutes of the DNC compared to 45 minutes of the RNC, and NBC aired 28 minutes of the DNC compared to 41 minutes of the RNC. This, in part, could be due to Melania Trump’s convention speech being significantly longer than Dr. Jill Biden’s. 

 

Live Coverage 

Night three of the RNC programming started at 8:30 p.m. EDT, 30 minutes earlier than the DNC convention, and both programs ran until slightly after 11:10 p.m.

Combined live coverage of the DNC programming from the six networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News and MSNBC) totaled 7 hours and 45 minutes for the third night of the convention, whereas combined live coverage of the RNC totaled 8 hours and 34 minutes on the third night. 

 

Similar to previous nights, the biggest change in coverage between the third day of the DNC and the third day of the RNC was on Fox News, which aired only 50 minutes of the DNC’s programming, but aired 2 hours and 22 minutes of the RNC’s programming. Sean Hannity noted to his audience at the beginning of his program that his coverage of the convention would be commercial free and come with limited interruptions, whereas his program aired just over two minutes of DNC programming on the third night of the convention.

On night three, both CNN and MSNBC aired less live coverage of the RNC than they had aired of the DNC’s night three programming. CNN aired 35 minutes less of the RNC evening programming than night three of DNC, while MSNBC aired 18 minutes less. CNN’s coverage was occasionally interrupted with convention commentary; updates on Hurricane Laura, which was making landfall on the Gulf Coast at the time of the convention programming, and new information on the alleged vigilante gunman who killed protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin, following the police shooting of Jacob Blake. MSNBC broke away with some regularity to provide fact checks for the RNC’s programming, and the network also had a hurricane projection report. 

The broadcast networks aired approximately the same amount of the night three RNC programming as they did for the DNC. ABC aired 50 minutes of the DNC, compared to 51 minutes of the RNC. CBS aired 48 minutes of the DNC, compared to 53 minutes of the RNC. And NBC aired 49 minutes of the DNC, compared to 52 minutes of the RNC. 

 

Live Coverage

Night four of the RNC programming started at 8:30 p.m. EDT, 30 minutes earlier than the DNC convention, and ended with Trump’s acceptance speech that concluded at 11:35 p.m., about 20 minutes after Joe Biden’s acceptance speech ended. 

Combined live coverage of the DNC programming from the six networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC) totaled 7 hours and 59 minutes for the fourth night, whereas combined live coverage of the RNC totaled 12 hours and 21 minutes on the fourth night. 

 

While every network aired a greater amount of live coverage due to Trump’s lengthy speech to conclude the RNC, the biggest change still occurred on Fox News, which aired just 38 minutes of night four of the DNC and 2 hours and 56 minutes of night four of the RNC. Notably, during the final night of the DNC’s programming, Sean Hannity counter-programmed the convention with an interview with Trump.

On night four, CNN aired 26 minutes more of the RNC’s programming than it did of the DNC night four programming, and MSNBC aired 19 minutes less. In a similar fashion to previous nights, a panel of MSNBC hosts occasionally interrupted the live coverage to offer fact checks of claims made by convention speakers. 

The broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, NBC) all took similar approaches in airing Ivanka Trump’s and the president’s speeches in their entirety, each allocating more time to night four of the RNC than to that of the DNC. ABC aired 1 hour and 29 minutes of the RNC’s night four programming, compared to 1 hour and 1 minute of the DNC’s. CBS aired 1 hour and 29 minutes of the RNC, compared to 40 minutes of the DNC. NBC aired 1 hour and 29 minutes of the RNC, compared to 49 minutes of the DNC. 

 

Correction (8/26/20): An earlier version of the MSNBC convention coverage chart had the wrong time for its coverage of day two of the DNC.