VP Debate Draws Record 69.9M

Shatters the 56.9M for Ferraro-Bush in 1984, and well above McCain-Obama I
By Harry Kimball,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 3, 2008 4:35 PM CDT
VP Debate Draws Record 69.9M
Sarah Palin and Joe Biden during their vice presidential debate Thursday.   (AP Photo)

Last night’s vice presidential debate drew 69.9 million viewers, shattering the record for such an event, Broadcasting & Cable reports. The 1984 encounter between VP candidates Geraldine Ferraro and George H.W. Bush drew 56.9 million; the record for a campaign debate is 80.6 million for the 1980 showdown between Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan.

The debate attracted 45% of households in top US markets, a far larger proportion than viewed the first presidential debate, according to preliminary Nielsen numbers. Baltimore led the nation’s major markets with almost 60% of households watching. The so-called overnight number of 45 dwarfs the 31.6 preliminary number for the first presidential debate—but that one fell on a Friday.
(More Election 2008 stories.)

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