Joe Biden speech wins Nielsen ratings over Obama, Romney

Joe Biden was the big winner — when it comes to TV ratings, at least — for the Democratic and Republican conventions, Nielsen numbers show.

The vice president’s speech garnered attention from 14.7 percent of viewers, compared to 13.7 percent for President Barack Obama and 12.5 percent for GOP nominee Mitt Romney.

“Both Romney and Obama did well with people over age 55 – almost 26 percent tuned in to watch the former Massachusetts governor accept the GOP nod, while 25 percent of that same demo watched Obama’s address,” according to a Nielsen statement.

As for the special guests, former Democratic president Bill Clinton edged out Republican guest speaker Clint Eastwood.

More from GlobalPost: Joe Biden speech a character reference for Obama

The numbers were closest among male viewers, with Clinton drawing 10.9 percent of males while Eastwood attracted 9.9 percent.

Different story for women viewers, though. Clinton enjoyed a 2 percent advantage (12 percent to 10.1 percent) among female viewers.

Biden’s speech focused on giving viewers an insider impression of Obama’s character and principles.

Emotional and direct, he was caught on camera wiping away tears before his speech as his son, Beau, nominated him for the vice presidency.

“I want to take you inside the White House to see the President, as I see him every day, because I don’t see him in sound bites,” Biden said on Sept. 6.

Overall, 57 percent of all US households (65.4 million homes) watched at least one of the conventions; however, that’s down from 64.5 percent of US households (73.2 million homes) four years ago.

More from GlobalPost: Eastwood speech spawns snickers, Twitter