TV Ratings: NBC News' RNC Coverage Pulls More Than ABC and CBS Combined

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Fox may not have had any coverage of the RNC on Tuesday night, but it topped the other broadcast networks thanks to a boosted outing of MasterChef. The 9 p.m. episode, which followed an encore, was up 17 percent in the demo for a 2.8 rating. It marked the Gordon Ramsay competition's highest showing among adults 18-49 for the summer and helped give Fox an average 2.1 adults rating and 5 million viewers for the night.

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Leading the night in viewers, America's Got Talent was down just a tenth of a point in the demo from last Tuesday's episode. Its 2.4 adults rating led into the most-watched broadcast network coverage of the RNC. NBC's hour with the GOP averaged a 1.3 adults rating. Altogether, the network pulled a 2.0 rating with adults 18-49 and 8.2 million viewers for the night.

Encores of NCIS and NCIS: LA aired before CBS' coverage of the convention. The network's hour posted a 0.6 adults rating, giving CBS a 1.0 rating in the demo and 6.2 million viewers for the night.

ABC had comedy encores between 8 and 10 p.m. before the night's softest showing of the Republicans' Tampa Bay festivities. ABC News' coverage earned a 0.5 rating among adults 18-49, just a tenth of a point behind its average demo score for the night. The network also averaged 2.5 million viewers.

The CW had encores of Hart of Dixie and The Next, giving it a 0.2 adults rating and 650,000 viewers for the night.