Saturday, October 4, 2008

VP debate draws larger audience

Nearly 70 million viewers tuned in to Thursday night's debate between
Sen. Joseph Biden and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, making the broadcast's
audience 32% bigger than the presidential debate drew the week before.

In Nielsen Media Research's final measurement of more than 200 U.S. TV
markets, the Biden-Palin debate generated a total household rating of
41.7, easily surpassing the 31.6 rating for the Sept. 26 debate
between Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain, a report by David B.
Wilkerson of MarketWatch indicated.

About 52.4 million people watched the Obama-McCain debate. One ratings
point equals 1% of the total TV audience.

In 2004, 43.6 million watched Vice President Dick Cheney square off
against his challenger, Sen. John Edwards. The 1984 debate between
then-Vice President George H.W. Bush and Rep. Geraldine Ferraro drew
56.7 million viewers.

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