'Daily Show' scores with convention shows
By Paul J. Gough
NEW YORK -- Count Comedy Central as one of the networks getting a ratings boost from the Democratic and Republican national conventions.
As it has for years, the network's "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" shifted from its New York base to the DNC (staged in Denver this year) and the RNC (St. Paul, Minn.).
For the past two weeks' worth of Tuesday-Friday telecasts, "Daily Show" averaged 1.7 million viewers, Nielsen Media Research said Thursday. That's up 37% compared with the "Indecision 2004" convention coverage from Boston and New York in 2004. Viewers 18-49 jumped 42% to 1.1 million compared with four years ago, and men 18-24 rose 46% to 186,000.
For the DNC, "Daily Show" was up 23% to 1.5 million viewers and saw double-digit increases in all the major demos. For the RNC, it averaged 1.8 million viewers, up 32% from four years ago.