63.2 Million Watched McCain And Obama’s Second Debate

admin — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 21:50:10 +0000

On Tuesday night, 63.2 million U.S. viewers watched the second presidential debate between Senators John McCain and Barack Obama.

The TV audience for the senators’ second meeting easily surpassed that of their first debate, which drew an audience of 52.4 million on Friday, Sept. 26.

During the previous presidential campaign, 46.7 million viewers tuned in for President Bush and John Kerry’s second debate on Oct. 8, 2004.

See more historical debate ratings.

Viewership among Hispanic households grew by 34% — from 8.2% of Hispanic households during the first McCain/Obama debate to 11% during the candidates’ second debate Tuesday night.

Debate viewership among White (+21%) and African American (+9%) households also increased during the second presidential debate.

Coverage of the McCain-Obama debate was carried live on ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, Telemundo, Univision, BBC-America, CNBC, CNN, FOX News Channel, and MSNBC from approximately 9pm to 10:30pm EST Tuesday night.

View the full media alert.

Read coverage of Nielsen’s findings in the Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, Forbes, Multichannel News, Mediaweek, and TV Week.

42% Of Households In Top Local TV Markets Watched McCain and Obama’s Second Debate

admin — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 15:22:00 +0000

The combined overall household rating for Tuesday night’s second presidential debate, in 55 of the 56 local television markets where Nielsen maintains electronic TV meters, was 42.1.

In comparison, the first debate between Senators McCain and Obama received a much lower household rating (34.7) in the top 55 local TV markets. Last week’s V.P. debate received a 45.0 household rating in the top 55 markets.

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

The Nashville market, where the debate was held, had the largest TV audience, with a household rating of 59.2, while the Sacramento/Stockton/Modesto, California market had the lowest household rating: 31.8.

Several TV markets in swing states also saw significant household ratings boosts over the first presidential debate. The Milwaukee market had the largest jump, moving up 26 spots in Nielsen’s ranking of debate viewing in the top 55 markets. Household viewing in Indianapolis and Dayton, Ohio (+21 spots in Nielsen’s ranking), Minneapolis (+17 spots), and Cincinnati (+15 spots) also increased significantly from the first to the second McCain/Obama debate.

Rank (by H.H. rating)	Market	Market Rank (by population size)	Household Rating (% of U.S. households that watched debate)
1	Nashville	29	59.2
2	Memphis	48	55.7
3	Baltimore	26	55.6
4	West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce	38	51.4
5	Richmond-Petersburg	58	49.6
6	Indianapolis	25	49.5
7	Norfolk-Portsmth-Newpt Nws	43	49.4
8	Kansas City	31	49.2
9	Columbus, OH	32	48.9
10	Raleigh-Durham (Fayetvlle)	27	48.2
Source: The Nielsen Company (October 7, 2008).

View ratings for Nielsen’s 55 top local metered markets.

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

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

Nielsen Wire » October 7

63.2 Million Watched McCain And Obama’s Second Debate

42% Of Households In Top Local TV Markets Watched McCain and Obama’s Second Debate