Lots of gray hair in Cleveland, much more in the GOP audience at home

As Donald Trump prepares to deliver his acceptance speech in Cleveland tonight, despite some nagging distractions in the first three days of the convention the nominee knows that he is in friendly territory – an audience of mostly white faces framed by gray hair.

But the interest expressed in this Trump extravaganza by the TV audience at home skews even more toward retiree voters.

The TV ratings for the first two nights of the Republican confab show an amazing lack of diversity in the audience watching at home. The number of viewers in the 55-plus age group is about six times the audience in the 18-34 category.

Even in the sweet spot of the 35-54 demographic, the interest in the Cleveland convention is less than half of its standing with the elderly population. In a breakdown by gender, I suspect the aging, angry white male stereotype of a typical Trump supporter would be vindicated.

On the second night of the convention, as viewership declined the lack-of-diversity numbers got even worse – a 2.1 rating among the 18-34 crowd, 4.9 in the 35-54 demographic, and 14.8 for the 55+ people.

Some numbers show that the 2016 event’s hold on the TV audience is a bit less than for the 2012 GOP convention in Tampa, which Trump famously labeled “the most boring convention I’ve ever seen.” The nominee had promised a provocative, all-star lineup of speakers that would make the 2016 gathering a sensation.

Yet one more metric that may get under The Donald’s skin – the Trump show is losing out in the ratings to a reality TV show. According to Deadline Hollywood, which keeps track of these kinds of things, the show that has had America’s attention wasn’t the RNC but America’s Got Talent.

Photo: CNN