|
An estimated 73.1 million people tuned in to
the chaotic face-off on Tuesday night across 16 networks, down
from the 84 million who watched the first debate between Trump
and Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in 2016. That matchup had
the highest total viewership in 60 years of U.S. presidential
debates.
During 90 minutes marked by personal insults and Trump's
repeated interruptions, Trump and Biden battled over the
president's record on the coronavirus pandemic, healthcare and
the economy.
The Nielsen numbers included people watching at home and at such
venues as bars and restaurants. It also included some digital
viewership through televisions connected to the Internet.
The figures do not capture the full extent of online viewing,
which has grown in popularity as traditional TV audiences
decline. The debate was streamed live on Twitter, YouTube,
network websites and other digital platforms.
While the TV audience did not set a record, the size was
impressive in an era of streaming media that has fractured
viewership, said Alan Schroeder, a debate historian and
professor emeritus at Northeastern University.
The debate ranked as the second-most-watched event this year
behind only the Super Bowl's roughly 100 million viewers.
"There aren't that many of these big-ticket live programming
events anymore that everybody watches together," Schroeder said.
Some people may have skipped the debate because Trump and Biden,
a former vice president and senator, are well known to voters,
Schroeder said. Living amid the coronavirus pandemic and other
challenges also may have made the debate unappealing, he said.
"There is a lot of heavy stuff going on, and people are
emotionally spent," Schroeder said. "The prospect of watching
something that makes you feel worse is not enticing to a lot of
people."
Fox News Channel <FOXA.O> attracted the biggest debate audience
of any single network on Tuesday, with 17.8 million viewers. The
event, the first of three presidential debates before the Nov. 3
election, was moderated by Fox News host Chris Wallace.
The group that manages U.S. presidential election debates said
on Wednesday it would take steps to bring order to the final two
contests between Trump and Biden, which are scheduled for Oct.
15 and Oct. 22.
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Howard Goller and Peter
Cooney)
[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
