Thursday night’s debate between President Trump and Joe Biden drew fewer viewers than the first one last month.

Photo: Sergio Flores/Getty Images

Roughly 63 million people watched the final presidential debate between President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden on television, as the two sparred over the economy, health care and immigration.

The debate’s viewership was about 14% below the initial debate between Mr. Trump, the Republican incumbent, and Democratic nominee Mr. Biden. The first one attracted about 73.1 million viewers, marking the third most-watched initial presidential debate since 1976, according to Nielsen.

Thursday night’s meeting was less combative than the pair’s first, as their microphones were muted at times.

The latest debate also was 12% lower than the final presidential debate of the 2016 election cycle, when an estimated 71.6 million viewers tuned in to watch Mr. Trump and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton square off, according to Nielsen.

The Nielsen figures include people who watched the debate on TV as well as through streaming apps on internet-connected TVs, known as smart TVs, but they exclude some digital viewers.

Connected-TV viewing can represent as much as 11% of the audience for political events such as Thursday’s debate, Nielsen said.

The debate, which was moderated by NBC’s Kristen Welker, was held at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn.

Write to Kimberly Chin at [email protected]

Copyright ©2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

This post first appeared on wsj.com

You May Also Like

Over half of Americans have faced online hate, survey finds

Over half of Americans surveyed in the last year reported facing online…

Lyndhurst, N.J.: An Inclusive Community With Affordable Homes

The line outside Michael’s Salumeria starts to form before dawn on Christmas…

New York Fed: Public Expectations for March 2023 Inflation Hit 6.6% Record

Public expectations for the level of inflation a year from now hit…

Stanford holds off Arizona to win first NCAA women’s title since 1992

SAN ANTONIO — Tara VanDerveer hugged each of her Stanford players as…