TAMPA (CBS Tampa) – GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney will give his formal acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention Thursday night.

Though the speech is a banner moment for attendees of the convention, the American public does not hold the occasion in such high regard. In fact, according to recently conducted survey, most people care far more about the GOP platform than they do about what the potential future president has to say.

The study, conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, asked participants to rate their level of interest in various aspects of the RNC.

The options given for both conventions were the respective party’s platforms, two highly anticipated speeches each, and the roll call of states.

In regards to the RNC, a reported 52 percent of the public is interested in the party’s platform, while only 44 percent are interested in Romney’s speech.

More people were interested in hearing what GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan had to say Wednesday night – 2 percent more, to be exact.

Researchers also found a significant difference between public interest in Romney’s speech and the past RNC speeches of George W. Bush in 2000, where 53 percent of the public showed interest, and John McCain in 2008, with 52 percent of Americans wanting to hear what he had to say.

In regards to the Democratic National Convention, the public also expressed more interest in the party platform than in President Barack Obama’s speech, but by a smaller, 4 percent margin.

The survey, conducted Aug. 23-26, was released Aug. 27 – the day the RNC got underway, despite delays caused by Hurricane Isaac.