The TV audience for the first presidential debate of the 2008 election was roughly 16% smaller than the audience for the first debate between President Bush and John Kerry during the 2004 election, which drew 62.5 million viewers on September 30, 2004. See more historical debate ratings.

ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, Telefutura, Telemundo, BBC-America, CNBC, CNN, FOX  News Channel, and MSNBC aired live coverage of the McCain/Obama debate from approximately 9pm to 10:45pm EST.

Read coverage of Nielsen’s findings in the Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Hollywood Reporter, Media Life, and by the Associated Press.

The combined overall household rating for Friday night’s presidential debate, in 55 of the 56 local television markets where Nielsen maintains electronic TV meters, was 34.7.

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

Coverage of the first presidential debate between Barack Obama and John McCain aired on ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, PBS, CNN, Telemundo, TeleFutura, BBCA, Fox News, MSNBC, and C-Span.

Previously, Nielsen reported that the combined overall household rating for the top 55 local markets was 33.2. That rating excluded households that viewed the debate on Fox News, MSNBC, and C-Span.

National ratings for Friday night’s debate will be available from Nielsen on Monday.