Big audience for Joe Biden-Sarah Palin TV debate

[WoodysGirl]

1 hour, 31 minutes ago



NEW YORK - Who's running for president, anyway?

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Far more people watched Thursday's vice presidential debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin on television than watched the first presidential debate.

Nielsen Media Research says preliminary ratings in the nation's 55 biggest markets were up 42 percent from the same measurement of John McCain and Barack Obama's first encounter last Friday.

Nielsen's specific estimate of how many people watched Thursday night will be out later, but indications are it will be one of the most-watched political debates ever.

Curiosity over Palin's performance undoubtedly played a role, but don't discount timing: More people generally watch television on Thursdays than Fridays.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081003/...debate_ratings

[ABQCOWBOY]

And this, IMO, is why Palin will be the Republican candidate for the 2012 election, should Obama win.

[masomenos]

34% of people polled, prior to the VP debate, said that the debate would significant weight in their decision of who to vote for. I bet that's the highest number we've ever seen.

[canters]

Makes me think that these polls showing a big lead for Barry might not be set in stone....if I had made my mind up, I would not watch these things.

[Wheat]

Originally Posted by canters

Makes me think that these polls showing a big lead for Barry might not be set in stone....if I had made my mind up, I would not watch these things.

I don't agree. I think people watched because they were expecting a meltdown. They were already decided....and not just unhappy they didn't get to see a meltdown.

If that many people tuned in, and the insta-polls were correct. Then this would be a bump for the Dems. No?

[masomenos]

Originally Posted by Wheat

I don't agree. I think people watched because they were expecting a meltdown. They were already decided....and not just unhappy they didn't get to see a meltdown.

If that many people tuned in, and the insta-polls were correct. Then this would be a bump for the Dems. No?

Depends on which polls you believe.

[WoodysGirl]

Palin vs. Biden a Super-Big Ratings Deal

Joal Ryan
Fri Oct 3, 11:17 AM ET



Los Angeles (E! Online) - Last night's vice presidential debate was no second banana.

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The showdown between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden was watched by just under 70 million people, Nielsen Media Research said late today.

The audience blew away the old record for a vice-presidential debate—56.7 million for 1984's face-off between then-veep George H.W. Bush and Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman on a major party's presidential ticket.

If the Palin-Biden contest were a presidential debate, it'd rank as the second most watched in TV history, tied with one of 1992's three-way showdowns between then-President George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Ross Perot.

With a whopping 80.6 million viewers, the one-and-only 1980 meet-up between Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan still stands as TV's most watched debate ever.

Compared to Palin and Biden, their respective running mates, John McCain and Barack Obama, look like Nielsen underachievers. Last week's McCain-Obama face-off, the first of three scheduled debates, was watched by 52.4 million.

That Palin-Biden was bigger than McCain-Obama is hardly surprising. Even more than the presidential race, the veep contest has a TV star—and with apologies to the U.S. senator from Delaware, it's not Biden.

Since her debut on the national scene just weeks ago, Palin has helped drive up ratings for network news shows and even Saturday Night Live, where the Tina Fey version of the Alaskan governor has that long-running NBC show up about 50 percent over last season.

Palin helped fuel interest in her debating skills by discussing Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's head, and other topics with CBS' Katie Couric.

(Originally published Oct. 3, 2008 at 11:47 a.m. PT.)