Debate Rating Tops AL Playoff, NFL Game
Facing competition from professional baseball and football, Sunday’s presidential debate was watched on the ABC, NBC and Fox TV networks in 38.4% of the homes in the 25 major cities where overnight ratings were available, according to preliminary figures released Monday by the A.C. Nielsen Co.
ABC estimated the national audience at 47 million households--far larger than the figures for the American League championship playoff on CBS and the end of the National Football League game on NBC.
Should the preliminary statistics stand, the rating for the St. Louis debate would be higher than both of the 1988 debates between President Bush and Michael S. Dukakis, but behind the 10 other debates since 1960 featuring both major parties’ presidential candidates.
The first Bush-Dukakis debate had a 35.9 national rating and the second a 36.8. The highest-rated debate came on Oct. 13, 1960, when the third of four debates between John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon drew a 61 rating. A rating is the percentage of households tuned to a particular program.
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