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
