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http://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2012/09/20/obama-romney-conventions-tv-viewership/70000813/1?csp=34news#.UFuPlULEUyE

Biden draws more TV viewers than Obama, Romney

Forget Bill Clinton and Clint Eastwood: The biggest draw at the political conventions turned out to be Vice President Biden.

Nearly 15% of all TV viewers tuned in to Biden's speech at the Democratic convention in Charlotte, more than those who watched President Obama and Mitt Romney, according to a new analysis by Nielsen, the ratings company. Biden got a boost from people over 55 years old, with slightly more than 27% of this group watching his speech on Sept. 6 accepting the VP nomination.

Among the presidential candidates, Obama had a slight edge over Romney. Nielsen found about 14% of all TV viewers watched the president, compared with about 13% for his GOP rival.

Now, about those special big-name speakers at the party confabs. Clinton drew more TV viewers than Eastwood and did better than the actor-director among women, men and people of all age groups, according to the Nielsen data.

Still, the overall trend for political convention viewership on TV is slipping. About 6 in 10 U.S. households -- roughly 65.4 million homes -- watched at least one of the party gatherings this year. That's down from 73.2 million homes in 2008, Nielsen says.