LOS ANGELES -- The Nielsen company says an estimated 32.2 million people watched Donald Trump deliver his GOP nomination acceptance speech.

CLEVELAND, OH - JULY 21: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump delivers a speech during the evening session on the fourth day of the Republican National Convention on July 21, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump received the number of votes needed to secure the party's nomination. An estimated 50,000 people are expected in Cleveland, including hundreds of protesters and members of the media. The four-day Republican National Convention kicked off on July 18. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Donald Trump delivers a speech at the Republican National Convention on July 21, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
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Thursday's audience topped the 30.3 million who watched nominee Mitt Romney's 2012 speech but fell well short of John McCain's audience of 38.9 million at the 2008 Republican convention.

This year's tally reflects viewership across 10 commercial networks, Nielsen said Friday, topped by Fox News Channel with 9.4 million viewers.

The channel's triumph came the same day that its founder and chief, Roger Ailes, resigned amid a former anchorwoman's claims of workplace misconduct.

For the closing hour of the four-day convention, CNN drew 5.5 million viewers; NBC 4.6 million; ABC 3.9 million; CBS 3.8 million and MSNBC 3 million.

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