During their September 2 and September 3 coverage of the Republican National Convention, MSNBC, CNN, and Fox News each dedicated more on-air time -- significantly more in most cases -- to speeches and other official Republican convention programming during the most-watched portions of their coverage than each channel dedicated to official convention programming during the same times on comparable nights of the Democratic National Convention one week earlier.

According to the TV Newser blog, Nielsen Media Research found that the 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. ET hours were the most-watched hours of MSNBC's and CNN's coverage of the August 25, August 26, and August 27 convention nights, and among the top three most-watched hours on Fox News all three nights, along with the 8 p.m. ET edition of The O'Reilly Factor, which has shown virtually no official convention programming during either convention. Final ratings numbers are not yet available for the September 2 or September 3 coverage of the Republican National Convention. Moreover, the most prominent speeches have been scheduled to begin between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET.

Media Matters for America analyzed the 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. ET hours of convention coverage for the first three days of the Democratic National Convention and the second and third days of the Republican National Convention. Since most convention business was canceled on the first night of the Republican National Convention on September 1, Media Matters did not analyze coverage that night. Media Matters counted each period of time during which any portion of a scheduled speech was broadcast without commentary, when party-sponsored videos were broadcast, or when other convention business was broadcast without commentary. Media Matters included as part of the 10 p.m. hour all coverage of speeches that occurred or began between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET -- even if they did not conclude until after 11 p.m. For example, Media Matters counted coverage of Sen. Hillary Clinton's and Gov. Sarah Palin's speeches that continued past 11 p.m. as part of the 10 p.m. hour.

Findings for Tuesday, September 2, coverage of the Republican National Convention and Monday, August 25, and Tuesday, August 26, coverage of the Democratic National Convention are as follows:

• MSNBC dedicated 1 hour, 19 minutes, 52 seconds to scheduled convention programming during the 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. ET hours of its September 2 Republican National Convention coverage; by contrast, MSNBC dedicated 56 minutes, 13 seconds to scheduled convention programming during the same hours during its August 25 coverage of the Democratic National Convention, and 59 minutes, 28 seconds during its August 26 coverage.

• CNN dedicated 1 hour, 23 minutes, 36 seconds to scheduled convention programming during the 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. ET hours of its September 2 Republican National Convention coverage; by contrast, CNN dedicated 1 hour, 3 minutes, 58 seconds to scheduled convention programming during the same hours during its August 25 coverage of the Democratic National Convention, and 1 hour, 10 minutes, 45 seconds during its August 26 coverage.

• Fox News dedicated 1 hour, 16 minutes, 30 seconds to scheduled convention programming, including convention speeches, during the 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. ET hours of its September 2 Republican National Convention coverage; by contrast, Fox News dedicated 56 minutes, 25 seconds to scheduled convention programming during the same hours during its August 25 coverage of the Democratic National Convention, and 38 minutes, 51 seconds during its August 26 coverage.

Findings for the Wednesday, September 3, coverage of the Republican National Convention, including Palin's speech, and the Wednesday, August 27, coverage of the Democratic National Convention, including Sen. Joe Biden's speech, are as follows:

• MSNBC dedicated 1 hour, 26 minutes, 48 seconds to scheduled convention programming during the 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. ET hours of its September 3 Republican National Convention coverage; by contrast, MSNBC dedicated 1 hour, 20 minutes, 9 seconds to scheduled convention programming during the same hours during its August 27 coverage of the Democratic National Convention.

• CNN dedicated 1 hour, 36 minutes, 40 seconds to scheduled convention programming during the 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. ET hours of its September 3 Republican National Convention coverage; by contrast, CNN dedicated 1 hour, 25 minutes, 46 seconds to scheduled convention programming during the same hours during its August 27 coverage of the Democratic National Convention.

• Fox News dedicated 1 hour, 9 minutes, 33 seconds to scheduled convention programming during the 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. ET hours of its September 3 Republican National Convention coverage; Fox News dedicated 1 hour, 8 minutes, 17 seconds to scheduled convention programming during the same hours during its August 27 coverage of the Democratic National Convention.

All of the cable networks broadcast more official convention programming during their Tuesday, September 2, coverage of the Republican National Convention than they did during their Monday, August 25, or Tuesday, August 26, coverage of the Democratic National Convention. While MSNBC and CNN broadcast more official Democratic convention programming on Wednesday, August 27, than Republican convention programming on Wednesday, September 3, the difference is more than accounted for by CNN's coverage of the Democratic convention's roll call vote and nearly accounted for by MSNBC's coverage of that vote. Indeed, during its Wednesday broadcasts, CNN showed 1 hour, 2 minutes, 48 seconds of the Democratic roll call and 7 minutes, 54 seconds of the Republican roll call; MSNBC showed 51 minutes, 40 seconds of the Democratic roll call and 2 minutes, 44 seconds of the Republican roll call.