October 5, 2016 | No Comments
Last night’s vice presidential debate between Mike Pence and Tim Kaine is likely to end up with fewer viewers than the VP debates from 2012 and 2008, and could even end up with fewer viewers than in 2004, depending on how the final numbers look.
According to very preliminary ratings data from Nielsen, the four broadcast networks were down slightly from the 2012 VP debate between Joe Biden and Paul Ryan. That debate averaged over 51 million viewers. The 2008 debate between Biden and Sarah Palin set a high watermark for viewership with 70 million, while the 2004 debate between Dick Cheney and John Edwards averaged just under 44 million viewers.
When the final numbers come in around lunchtime, total viewership could be less than half of what the first presidential debate between Donald trump and Hillary Clinton saw. That debate averaged 84 million viewers.