VP Debate Ratings Are Half That of ’92
The ratings for this year’s vice presidential debate were half of those for the vice presidential debate in the 1992 campaign, according to Nielsen Media Research.
Nielsen’s ratings indicate that 26.6 million viewers watched the debate Wednesday night between Vice President Al Gore and Republican candidate Jack Kemp. In 1992, 51.2 million watched the debate between Gore, then Vice President Dan Quayle and retired Adm. James B. Stockdale, Ross Perot’s running mate.
The decline parallels the drop in viewership of Sunday’s presidential debate. In addition, the vice presidential debate this year was competing on television with a baseball playoff game.
The ratings are based on the combined average audience estimates for the live coverage of the debates on ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN. The rating for the 1996 debates was a 19.7, compared to a 35.9 rating in 1992.
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