Vice Presidential Debate Ratings: 69.9 Million Total, ABC, Fox News Win, MSNBC Tanks

Update: The final numbers are in: 69.9 million viewers watched the Vice Presidential debate, making it the most watched debate since 1992 and the most watched VP debate ever. From The Hollywood Reporter's James Hibberd:

Thursday's highly anticipated face-off between Alaska governor Sarah Palin and Delaware senator Joe Biden was the most-watched debate in 16 years

[Thursday] night's event was seen by 69.9 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research.

That's the most-viewed debate -- presidential or vp -- since the second round of Bill Clinton, Ross Perot and George Bush debating in 1992 (which also received 69.9 million).

Thursday's event was 33% higher than Friday's debate between John McCain and Barack Obama. It's 61% higher than the 2004 debate between Dick Cheney and John Edwards, and ranks 8% higher than the former most-watched vp debate record holder -- the 1984 match between George Bush and Geraldine Ferrarro.

Cable Ratings: Fox News had its highest rated telecast ever Thursday night, drawing 11.1 million viewers for the Vice Presidential debate (from 9:01 pm-10:33 pm Eastern time).

CNN came in second with 10.7 million viewers, while MSNBC came in a distant third with 4.4 million viewers.

The Vice presidential debate replaced George Bush's Presidential Address from March 19, 2003, which drew 9.7 million viewers, as the network's highest rated telecast in its 12-year history.

Fox News also saw its highest prime-time average ever: it averaged 9.2 million viewers from 8-11pm.

CNN won the coveted Adults 25-54 demographic, averaging 4.5 million to Fox's 3.8 million and MSNBC's 1.9 million viewers.

Network Ratings: On the networks, ABC took the top spot, averaging 13.1 million viewers for the VP debate. NBC came in second with 12.82 million, while CBS came in third with 11.1 million viewers.

ABC also won the post-debate analysis (10:37 pm-11:00 pm Eastern), drawing 9.8 million viewers to NBC's 9.6 million and CBS' 8.0 million.

Final Numbers (total viewers):
ABC: 13,130,000
NBC: 12,820,000
CBS: 11,100,000
Fox News: 11,098,000
CNN: 10,685,000
MSNBC: 4,412,000

Comments

[grp]

Hey, how many veiwers Fox vs MSNBC??? Isn't MSNBC where Mathews, old ber mann and Mad Cow drivel, slobber and spew left wing, liberal, Air America bias? The ratings show how much Americans pay attention to that nonsense - probably similar to how the election numbers will come in. Hmmm.

[Mdazes]

MSNBC is not hurting NBC (12.8 millions) got their back

[RaraAvis17]

I wonder if MSNBC learned their lesson from putting David Gregory on instead of Keith and Chris? I changed the channel - I didn't want to listen to him bore me to de ath.

The ONLY reason FauxNews is high is because people love to watch them swoon. Ha!

[gypsysoul111]

no. the only reason fox was high is that those intelligent republicans where already on that station watching "hole in the wall"!

[guinness327]

And that's exactly how many votes McCain/Palin are going to get in November. Provided, of course, she didn't lose votes when she said she believed gay couples should have civil rights. Of course, she'll probably claim later she didn't mean it because Gwen Ifill annoyed her.

[Ohg]

Palin acted like a cheerleader who read the play book and thinks she can be quarterback. ..........­....
http://thefiresidepost.com/2008/10/03/palin-cheerleader-who-wants-to-be-quarterback/

[iPolitics]

17 million for NBC/MSNBC

[SUNRAI]

Notice how they didn't say that NBC won in the byline.... hmmmm...bu­t you're right...wh­y can't you add them together..­..

[secret38b]

That's right.... Add, MSNBC and NBC together..­.........

[Khill]

So that means only 15.1millio­n people watch real news....I can dig it

[timbuktoo]

FOX typically beats the pants off the other two. It is a sad reflection of the state of our nation. FOX is easily the most biased outlet. They don't even try to hide it anymore and to call them a news organization is flattering if not outright false.

MSNBC is only marginally better than FOX although, outside Obermann and Maddow, they hide the bias much better than FOX.

CNN is just self-absorbed.

What the numbers tell me is that more Conservatives are exposed to grotesque forms of bias and faux news than are Independents and Republicans. That makes sense if you are an ignorant, lazy red-neck. No-one would accuse FOX as being thought-provoking.

[spiffarino]

MSNBC barely pretends to hide their hosts' biases. In fact, they tout that they have opinionated hosts.

I wouldn't have a problem with Fox if they would just stop calling it news and quit with the "fair and balanced" foolishness. They have every right to their political slant, but there is no excuse for lying about it.

[nicholasclaxton]

UMMM Wake Up Folks .... all the conservatives wanted to see if their vp could stack up...

it is widely known fact that liberals watch more of this stuff but when teh uninformed cons want to catch up they usually turn on their lie-machine and thus fox gets ratings...­.

why don't they post the # of lies, smears aired on faux versus the other 'liberal' channels..­.

just because you report the nonsense of the gop does not mean you are in the tank of obama - wheres the screams for fox/politico being in the tank for mccain

who cares...th­e internet is the new medium...

[LibRS]

i know it has just GOT to irritate you libs that fox dominates.

[nicholasclaxton]

lmao....ta­ke your little moment and enjoy it....fox ratings won't get you back into the white house!

[lukebenward]

Exactly FNC will be known as the little Whiny Little Bit*ches Channel for the next 4 years when O. takes office.

[Jesusismygrace]

How else would you think? You do not have the capacity to think on your own so you need to turn to Bill'o for help! No reasonably educated person would even consider Fox as a reliable source of information.

The world is laughing at you

[roooth]

Nyahhh, we're just creeped out by how much domination excites you. You only like O' Reilly cause you get to do the O face every time you say his name.

[AZBunny]

Actually us libs watched FAUX so we could laugh at the spin on Palin's performance.

Better than any sitcom!!! LMAO.
OH,, you mean it wasn't supposed to be funny? What about O'really??? he really makes me laugh, AND Hannity---Better than Bozo the clown!!!

[spiffarino]

While Faux "News" dominates among conservatives, it also enjoys the largest distribution in cable news since it's almost always included in basic cable packages. Murdoch lost billions initially, but it proved to be a brilliant strategy over time.

That doesn't diminish the fact that FNC is the propaganda arm of the RNC.

[lukebenward]

Poor K.O.

http://i34.tinypic.com/fnwh9z.jpg

[DamageControl]

Actually poor David gregory, i for one will not watch msnbc during these debates until they bring atleast olbermann back to host. I'm sure that keiths numbers after the debate was over were fine.

[harriettubman]

Still don't believe those Nielsen ratings. I don't know why they keep reporting these erroneous ratings.

[nicholasclaxton]

errgo most of their traditional ratings 'boxes' are in more conservative areas...ho­wever they are just a snapshot..­.one snapshot..­.i'm quite certain if 'all mediums' were tracked and reported it would tell a different story...an­d let's not forget that many libs monitor fox as so they know what lies/smears they must fight the next day...

[progressivelady]

What kind of people watch FOX? I hate FOX new's

[AZBunny]

I watch Faux news when I need a laugh. Don't you???

[patmancando]

I watch it more and more......­......sure they are conservative, but they aren't as biased in their approach as is MSNBC.

[sammy50]

MSNBC, hve you thought of trying out as a drive-in theater?

[ScottLive5]

I watched the debate on a channel that was carried in HD...then after, I promptly switched back to MSNBC for commentary.

[Speakupper]

Did anyone else notice that the Frank Luntz focus group on the vp debate was held at Anheuser-Busch headquarters with a supposedly balanced group of undecideds? Of course, Cindy Mc Cain's family owns one of the country's largest A-B distribuotships. Objective?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKrk_6QjcNw

[LibRS]

they own a distributorship not anheuser.

[RadCenter]

Precisely as Speakupper said...

[patmancando]

For these 0's a little knowledge is a dangerous thing