How to Live Stream the Democratic National Convention on Social Media
Hey, Democracy Enthusiast: The Democratic National Convention is coming up next week, and it will be live-streamed vertically. For the first time, Americans on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube can join Americans horizontally streaming on old-fashioned platforms like Apple TV and Roku.
When and where to watch the Democratic National Convention
The Democratic National Convention will take place from August 19 to 22 in Chicago. Primetime conference coverage will be broadcast live from 6:30 to 11:00 pm ET on Monday and from 7:00 pm to 11:00 pm ET Tuesday through Thursday.
The conference will be broadcast on more than a dozen platforms, including YouTube, DirecTV, Facebook and Comcast. Links to the full list of platforms can be found on the official convention website .
Why is vertical streaming important?
Streaming in a different orientation is not an aesthetic choice for the Democratic Party; it’s an attempt to reach younger voters. The tight polling means the 2024 presidential race could be decided by the votes of young people, who are a growing force in American politics. In 2020 , 55% of people aged 18 to 29 voted , the highest percentage since 1972, the first election in which 18-year-olds were even eligible to vote.
Increasingly, young potential voters are getting their information through the vertical video streaming platform TikTok. According to the Pew Research Center , 32% of Americans ages 18 to 29 said they received news from TikTok in 2023, up from 9% in 2020.
In the past, political conventions were aimed at older people.
It remains to be seen whether allowing the Democratic National Convention to be streamed on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube will have an impact at the ballot box. In the past, young people have shown little interest in political conventions: in 2020 , a year with historically high young voter turnout, about 14 million people over 55 tuned into the Democratic National Committee, but only about 1 million people aged 18 and 34 were given a watch.