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Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Debate TV Ratings Sets New Record


UPDATE 9/28/16 4 AM:  The first presidential debate between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump drew 84 million U.S. television viewers, a record for such an event and numbers rarely seen on TV in the age of digital streaming and social media.

The audience for the Monday night face-off beat the 1980 record of 80.6 million set by the Jimmy Carter-Ronald Reagan presidential debate, when viewers had far fewer entertainment options. But it fell short of the 100 million viewers some analysts had predicted.

Earlier Posting...

(Reuters) -- Some 80.9 million Americans watched the first presidential debate between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump on television, setting a new viewer record for such events, CNN said on Tuesday.

The figure includes the approximately 45 million who watched the 90-minute debate on the four main TV networks, as well as millions more who watched cable channels, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News and other smaller outlets, CNN said.

The figures, which are not final, beat the 80.6 million record set by the Jimmy Carter-Ronald Reagan TV presidential debate in 1980 but are below the 100 million viewers some analysts had predicted ahead of the face-off.

NBC Most-Watched
An audience of around 100 million would have ranked the debate in the league of the annual football Super Bowl, which attracts more than 100 million viewers and is the biggest TV event in the United States.

CNN said final numbers were still being tallied by Nielsen, which measures television audience size, and would be available later on Tuesday. CNN said viewership remained high throughout and, according to Nielsen data, there was not a big drop-off after the first hour of the 98-minute debate.

Monday's figures did not include millions of people who watched the debate in bars, restaurants and online through Twitter, Facebook and other social media. Monday's debate was the first of three between the presidential candidates before the Nov. 8 election. The other two are on Oct. 9 and 19.

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