The TV audience for the senators’ third meeting edged past that of their first debate at the end of September, which drew 52.4 million viewers, but was easily surpassed by the audience of 63.2 million that tuned in for the second presidential debate last week.

During the previous presidential campaign, 51.2 million viewers tuned in for President Bush and John Kerry’s third debate on Oct. 13, 2004.  (View complete historical debate ratings.)

As was also the case in 2004 for the third debate, FOX did not carry the debate because of the Major League Baseball League Championship Series.  On Wednesday night, during the Obama-McCain debate, just over 8 million viewers tuned in on FOX to watch the Philadelphia Phillies face off against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Coverage of the McCain-Obama debate was carried live on ABC, CBS, NBC, Univision, BBC-America, CNBC, CNN, FOX News Channel, MSNBC and MUN2, and on tape delay on Telemundo Wednesday night.

View the full media alert.

Read coverage of Nielsen’s findings by the Associated Press and Reuters, as well as in The Boston Globe, Huffington Post, Variety, Ad Age, TV Week, and Broadcasting & Cable.

In comparison, last week’s debate between Senators McCain and Obama — the candidates’ second – received a 42.0 household rating in the top 55 local TV markets.  The candidates’ first debate on September 26 received a 34.7 household rating in the top 55 markets.

Wednesday night’s championship baseball game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies — aired by FOX, instead of the debate – may have impacted the debate’s ratings.  In the Philadelphia market, where 43.7% of local households tuned in for last week’s presidential debate, the debate drew 32% of local households, while the baseball game drew 32.3%. 

In the Los Angeles market, 10.2% of local households watched the game, while 29.2% of households watched the debate — down slightly from the previous debate, in which 33.7% of L.A. homes tuned in.

Among the top 56 local metered markets, the Baltimore market had the largest TV audience, with a household rating of 49.3, while the Sacramento/Stockton/Modesto, California market again had the lowest household rating: 28.1. 

One rating point equals 1% of the total TV audience in a given market.

View ratings for Nielsen’s 56 top local metered markets.

Coverage of the final debate between Senators John McCain and Barack Obama aired on NBC, CBS, ABC, BBCA, CSPAN, PBS, MSNBC, CNBC, UNIVISION, CNN, and FOX News Channel.

National ratings for Wednesday night’s debate will be available from Nielsen Thursday afternoon.