Second Debate Comes in Second
Although billed as crucial for the candidates, the second and final presidential debate last week was seen in about 1 million fewer homes than the first debate on Sept. 25, ratings estimates showed Monday.
Viewers in 34,367,200 homes watched Thursday’s debate between Vice President George Bush and Gov. Michael Dukakis, according to A.C. Nielsen Co. figures for the three major networks and Cable News Network.
ABC estimated that about 65 million people saw the debate. The first debate was seen in 35,385,800 homes.
The opening Bush-Dukakis debate had the same national rating (39.1) as the highest-rated of two televised presidential debates in 1984 between President Reagan and then-Sen. Walter Mondale (D-Minn.).
Nielsen figures showed that Thursday’s Bush-Dukakis debate got a 59.3% share of the national audience in the 90 minutes it was on the air, compared to 62.7% share for the first face-off.
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