Big Debate Audience
The 90-minute debate between vice presidential candidates Lloyd Bentsen and Dan Quayle attracted 52% of the homes watching TV at that time in 17 major cities, the A.C. Nielsen Co. reported Thursday.
National ratings won’t be available until today, but the overnight figures from 17 cities showed that more than 11.8 million homes were tuned to either ABC, CBS or NBC during the debate.
In Los Angeles, the debate attracted 49% of the available audience and was seen in 1.3 million homes, according to Nielsen estimates.
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