Presidential Debate Ratings: 56.5 Million Viewers, NBC, Fox News Win The Night

The final presidential debate between Barack Obama and John McCain, moderated by Bob Schieffer, drew 56.5 million viewers, more than their first debate moderated by Jim Lehrer (52.4 million) but less than their second debate, the town hall moderated by Tom Brokaw (63.2 million). All three presidential debates came in behind the meeting of the vice presidential candidates, which drew approximately 70 million viewers.

The Hollywood Reporter's James Hibberd reports the numbers, and suggests that Game 5 of the National League playoffs may have prevented the debate from topping the town hall:

The testy clash in Long Island between Barack Obama and John McCain was seen by 56.5 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research.

That's 8% higher than the first debate held on a Friday (52.4 million) and 11% lower than the second bout, held on a Tuesday (63.2 million). And, of course, it's much lower than the vp debate, which stands as the second most-watched of all time (70 million).

Viewership was likely affected by Fox airing a series-deciding Game 5 of the NLCS baseball championships, Los Angeles vs. Philadelphia last night. L.A. and Philly are the second and fourth largest television markets, respectively.

Network News
NBC won the night overall, averaging 11.3 million viewers and breaking ABC's winning streak. ABC, which had won all three previous debates, averaged 10.6 million viewers, while CBS averaged 9.2 million viewers.

Cable News
Fox News reclaimed the top spot, averaging 9.1 million viewers for its highest presidential debate yet (its coverage of the vice presidential debate averaged 11.1 million viewers). CNN, which won the town hall debate ratings, came in a close second with an average of 8.9 million viewers, while MSNBC continued to lag far behind with an average of 3.7 million viewers, the lowest rated of the four debates on MSNBC thus far.

Public Television
PBS, which is not included in Nielsen ratings, averaged an estimated 3.2 million viewers, just 500,000 fewer than MSNBC. If PBS viewers were included in the national total, the total audience can be estimated around 59.7 million viewers.

Comments

[Bartender-Rik]

I know this might sound minor, but considering I'm a big fan of HD programming and, in particular, cable news stations that provide such access, I found it natural to watch these Presidential debates on NBC since MSNBC doesn't provide HD programming through my cable provider (COMCAST-P­HILADELPHI­A). The only cable news station that provides HD programming through my cable provider is CNN. Although I prefer CNN to FOX NEWS, I would definitely have watched these Presidential debates on MSNBC if they provided HD programming. I'm not sure if that's why their Presidential debate ratings are so much lower than the other networks since I know my previous cable provider, DIRECTV, offered HD programming for both FOX NEWS and CNN while not providing HD programming for MSNBC. Does MSNBC provide HD progamming? If not, then this could be an underlying issue affecting their ratings for the Presidential debates in general. Unlike NBC, I know that the local FOX network in Philly was not even considered to be a potential Presidential debate viewership engine by both the Democrats and Republicans I'm friends with. Just wondering...

[Ethics101]

Why isn't C-Span included? I have learned the hard way, it's best to watch there.

[Whycee54]

C-Span is the way to watch anything political. NO COMMERCIALS, NO INTERRUPTIONS and NO COMMENTARIES. I love MSNBC but they talk to darn much. AND a message to all stations, Americans do not need anybody to tell them what was said. WE HEARD IT. We don't need the likes of Wolf Blitzer or Pat Buchanan giving their slanted view.

[LookingToHelp]

I, like Joe Biden, made the decision to watch the Phillies game. C'mon you don't believe Joe when he says he watch the debate, do you?

[JerryTheAngel]

If the electorate was fully engaged and large chunks of it were still undecided, the last debate would have drawn the most viewers. I heard a few of the yacking heads predict 100 million could watch the last debate. They wish.

Voters have made up their mind and this is why there were less viewers, which of course is a very good sign for Senator Obama.

[Torita]

Yeah, it could have been the game. Or it could be that the problem is the amateurish and off-base "analysis" by the major netoworks, or that the "pundits'" obsessive focus on strategy is largely irrelevant. Then again, it's just so HARD to analyze issues thoughtfully and intelligently while still making the 24/7 "news" dramatic enough to keep people glued to the set. Better to just stick to the petty high school-drama of what type of sound bites, grammatical adjustments, shifts in physical comportment, and opportunistic photo-ops would boost the candidates' images and poll numbers, or "what McCain has to do" to make it seem like he gives a sh*t about the voters. For a news channel that runs 24/7, CNN does an incredibly lousy job of actually reporting anything.

[truth2008]

A lot of regular MSNBC watchers were boycotting because Keith O and Matthews were replaced with Gregory. Maybe now, MSNBC will stop allowing McCain and Brokaw from making decisions about who should be on election coverage, and debates.

NO Brokaw or Gregory! We want Keith O back!

[ObamanextPresident]

And...it should be noted that msnbc is not included in many basic cable packages like fox and cnn are accross the country.

[yoyobrit83]

I watched on C-Span.

[aznurse]

I read that FOX is going to delay the World Series because of Obama's air time.
I bet this will get him lots of negative comments.

[ramblingjohnny]

Obama would be wise not to mess with the baseball schedule. Peoples don't like that!

[JerryTheAngel]

It's a very smart move for Senator Obama to place his extended ad in this time slot. It's a lousy 15 minutes. Philadelphia vs either Boston or Tampa Bay. All three of these markets are Obama country. Watching Obama right before the game starts is more interesting thenwatching the dull pregame hype anyways.

[plooger]

And what about CSPAN?

[libmac]

I wonder how many people watched on C-Span or PBS. Maybe more people switched because of the "real time" reaction graphs on CNN.

[Melissa]

So much for Wolff Blitzer and his "best political team on TV"! They are terrible.

[Hopalongpoppyseed]

It is rather silly to distinguish between cable and broadcast news as broadcast news is part of the package on most cable systems. I get all broadcast networks on my cable carrier; Comcast.

[Ohg]

The dip in ratings is scary - It suggests that people are losing interest or they think this election is over. Either way - the debate ratings are troubling. Harry Truman went to bed on election night in 1948, almost certain the he had lost. Truman's victory shocked everyone. ..........­..........­........
http://thefiresidepost.com/2008/10/16/dewey-defeats-truman/

[evgolightly]

I know - but as long as we're good and scared, we'll go and vote.

I think we'll see the Obama campaign start down-playing their internal polls.

[plooger]

Lower ratings don't mean people think the election is over... only that many people have decided on how they will cast their vote. Not much need to watch the debate if you've already found sufficient differentiation between the candidates.

[donkilluminati]

As a liberal i actually find watching the debates on fox news much more entertaining...

[Wiredwilly]

I agree, people who watch Mainstream Media are Dips.