(Bloomberg) -- Vice President Mike Pence attracted the smallest TV audience yet for this week’s Republican convention, speaking on an evening when Americans might have been distracted by canceled sports and Hurricane Laura.

An estimated 15.7 million viewers watched Wednesday’s coverage on six major broadcast and cable networks, according to Nielsen data released by Fox Corp. Fox News Channel led with an audience of almost 7.1 million. An estimated 18 million watched the convention Tuesday night, with 15.8 million tuning in on Monday.

About 21.4 million watched the Democratic convention a week earlier on the same channels. That night featured Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris making her debut as the first woman of color on a major party ticket.

Nielsen tracks programming that began at 10 p.m. New York time. The TV-measurement company will release ratings later in the day based on a larger number of channels.

Pence was the headliner for the event, speaking from Fort McHenry in Maryland, where Francis Scott Key composed the national anthem during the War of 1812. His speech was held outdoors before a live audience that included veterans and military families, and addressed the civil unrest in the wake of a police shooting of a Black man in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

“President Donald Trump and I will always support the right of Americans to peaceful protest, but rioting and looting is not peaceful protest, tearing down statues is not free speech,” Pence said. “Those who do so will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

Some networks simultaneously covered protests related to the shooting in Wisconsin, canceled professional sports events and the hurricane that was bearing down on Louisiana during the convention.

Trump is scheduled to speak Thursday, the final day of the convention, on the theme “Land of Greatness.” Other speakers include the president’s daughter Ivanka, attorney Rudy Giuliani and Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White.

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