With the heavy coverage of the Democratic Convention in Denver, I've read a few stories that talk about how viewership of the event is off. For example, there is a chart in the Washington Post today entitled "TV Ratings Drop." But they mean "network television ratings," by which they mean ABC, NBC, CBS. But that's completely the wrong metric. In addition to the Big Three and PBS, you can watch convention coverage on C-SPAN, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, and even BET and TV One. Here's the story in TV Week: Cable News Networks Reap Political Ratings. In B&C: Cable Adds Viewers on Day Two. This AP story notes that CNN beat ABC and CBS during the broadcast of Michelle Obama's speech during the 10:00 p.m. slot. And cable news viewership was way up over 2004, according to TV by the Numbers.
I mentioned this in July, during a discussion of the Emmy nominations, but it's always worth noting that people now turn to cable television very frequently to serve their needs for entertainment and information.