ABC’s post-debate analysis of Barack Obama and John McCain’s first presidential debate was the top-ranked primetime telecast on broadcast TV for Friday, September 26, 2008. The show drew an average of almost 8.3 million viewers.
CBS’s “The Mentalist” claimed second place, with almost 7.9 million average viewers, while NBC’s post-debate coverage rounded out the top three, with just over 7.1 million average viewers.
Post-debate analysis on CBS (6.1 million average viewers) and FOX News (3.9 million average viewers) also made the top ten.
| RANK | NAME | NETWORK | VIEWERS (P2+) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | VOTE2008: ANALYSIS-FRI(S)-09/26/2008 | ABC | 8,272,000 |
| 2 | MENTALIST, THE-FRIDAY SP(S)-09/26/2008 | CBS | 7,896,000 |
| 3 | DECISION ‘08:PRES ANALSYS(S)-09/26/2008 | NBC | 7,124,000 |
| 4 | 20/20 SP EDITION-9/26(S)-09/26/2008 | ABC | 6,891,000 |
| 5 | CAMPAIGN ‘08-DEBATE ANL-1(S)-09/26/2008 | CBS | 6,140,000 |
| 6 | SMARTER THAN 5TH GRADER | FOX | 5,231,000 |
| 7 | FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN | CW | 4,411,000 |
| 8 | FUEGO EN LA SANGRE FRI | UNI | 4,333,000 |
| 9 | FOX NEWS: DEB POST 1-9/26(S)-09/26/2008 | FOX | 3,896,000 |
| 10 | AMERICA’S TOUGHEST JOBS | NBC | 3,839,000 |
| Source: The Nielsen Company (September 26, 2008) | |||
Overall, CBS won the night with an average audience of just over 7.4 million viewers, while ABC took second place with just over 7.2 million average viewers. FOX and NBC claimed third and fourth places — with roughly 5.1 million and 4.7 million average viewers, respectively. The CW and Univision followed in fifth and sixth places with average audiences of roughly 4.4 million and 3.6 million viewers, respectively.
