Fox earned a decisive ratings win Tuesday night on the strength of Gordon Ramsay's "Hell's Kitchen" and "MasterChef," while the other networks' coverage of the Democratic National Convention was largely on par with that of last week's Republican National Convention, according to preliminary numbers.
Fox took a solid first place in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic with a 2.6 rating/7 share, and drew second place in total viewers with 6.3 million. "Hell's Kitchen" at 8 p.m. posted a 2.5/8 in the demo with 6 million total viewers, while "MasterChef" the following hour took the night's top ratings with a 2.7/7 and drew 6.5 million total viewers. NBC took second place in ratings and first in total viewers with a 1.9/5 and 7.6 million. "America's Got Talent" from 8 to 10 posted a 2.3/6 in the demo and had the night's largest total viewership with 8.6 million. The network's coverage of the Democratic National Convention at 10 drew a 1.3/4 -- even with NBC's coverage of the first night of last week's Republican National Convention -- and received 5.3 million total viewers.
Univision came in third in ratings and fourth in total viewers with a 1.5/4 and 3.6 million. CBS took fourth in ratings and third in total viewers with a 0.9/3 and 5.8 million. The network aired repeats throughout the night, save for its coverage of the convention, which scored a 0.6/2 -- even with the network's first night of coverage of the RNC -- and 3.2 million total viewers. ABC drew fifth in ratings and total viewers with a 0.7/2 and 2.7 million. Like CBS, the network ran reruns until its convention coverage at 10, which nabbed a 0.7/2 for the network --- slightly up from the network's equivalent coverage of the RNC -- and 2.8 million total viewers.