In total, last night's VP debate between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden averaged almost 70 million viewers (69.989 million). It was the most watched VP debate ever and the most watched debate of any kind (including presidential debates) since 1992 when current President Bush's dad, Ross Perot and Bill Clinton squared off (that debate also averaged 69.9 million viewers).
Last night's debate was comfortably ahead of the previous most-watched VP debate between Geraldine Ferraro and George Bush in 1984 which drew 56.7 million.
Source: ©2008 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved
According to Nielsen this measured the following networks: ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, Telefutura, Telemundo, BBC-America, CNBC, CNN, FOX News Channel, and MSNBC from approximately 9pm to 10:30pm EST. Including PBS, would've added around an additional 3.5 million.
Amazing number of viewers.
Do they have the breakdown of viewers by half hour? Curious to know if people stuck around for the whole thing or tuned in earlier or later.
Actually, the final number was 69.989 million, so rounded off it would really be 70 million, in which case it’s the second most watched debate ever, behind only the final Carter-Reagen debate in 1980. Kinda insane.
These numbers don’t include PBS ratings, do they? With the PBS numbers the total audience would be 73.5 million viewers.
Jonathan, I didn’t see 3 digits until after I posted this, but even Nielsen posted it with the 69.9. I’ll add their little data table to the post.
Rafeal, you’re correct, at least according to the channels Nielsen says it included. I’m guessing they did not bother totaling networks that aren’t ad-supported.
Frank, I didn’t see it anywhere other than the broadcast net half hourly data from the overnights.
wow.
Well this election has really got the public’s interest.
Palin did a decent job faking about 20% of the questions and didn’t even bother answering the other 80%. she might as well have been singing the ABC’s whenever it was her turn to respond
I guess Palin is still the popular interest regardless whatever anyone says…
70 million…is that highest watched of anything…???
I think the Superbowl cracked in the 50 million area
Nearly 70 million people were tuned into Joe Biden. Not a chance. Should the next two presidential debates not get that many viewers, then there would be only one reason that there were that many viewers. I just don’t get the “hate” for Sarah Palin. If a Liberal Woman was running for VP, they would be lauded. However, being a conservative woman automatically costs Sarah Palin. And for the sake of argument, Does being a smooth talker make Barack Obama experienced to be president? It sure seems that way with the liberal media.
Biden was joke. Telling a bald-faced lie that Obama didn’t say he would meet with the Iranian leader, Achmenijad, without preconditions. Plus there is that absolute nonsense about spending more in a month in Iraq than we’ve spent in Afghanistan and the lie about McCain voting with Obama on raising taxes. The whopper was his claim that his vote in favor of the Iraq war wasn’t a vote in favor of the war. Hello Joe it was a war resolution. He also stated that Article I of the Constitution defines the role of VP of the United States in the executive branch . Hello Joe it is article II and the VP president presides over the Senate. And Joe the US didn’t kick Hezbollah out of Lebanon. One wonders how a dunce like Joe is a VP candidate. So the question remains: How do you win on substance when you get the facts wrong?
Most memorable moment, “Say it ain’t so, Joe, there you go again pointing backwards again….” Palin has wonderful ability to connect with Americans. Biden was nasty and sullen.
Perhaps Palin and McCain should swap positions on the ticket. Wonder what that would do to Obama…
Lighthope
Pearls of Wisdom – $-) (Official Smiley of the IRS)
Howdy. Its kind of interesting how conservative the readers of this site could be. I guess out of generosity for those I used to associate with I will recommend that you guys at least try to spell correctly and use proper grammar in order to lend your jaded, ignorant comments a bit of credence so that they are not disregarded as the baseless, reckless, and reprehensible falsifications that they are.
Hope everyone enjoyed the debate!
The part which is so unnoticed about this is that Sarah Palin now accounts for 2 of the 3 largest viewership events in recent political history. That is pretty bizarre. She just showed up on the scene and tens of millions of people who have never voted for her are turning on anything televised where she speaks (except katie couric, who apparently can kill ratings under any circumstance).
Obama was supposed to be the new phenomenon and has certainly was. And then to have another one show up in the same year which is even bigger has got to be a news directors dream come true. Sarah Palin might be the cure for the evening news declines if they could figure out how NOT to piss off Palin-disposed viewers. It’s like having Rush Limbaugh or Howard Stern on your show except on steroids.