SAN DIEGO, October 13, 2012 – Whether you think Joe Biden got the best of Paul Ryan on Thursday night or not, they were no match for Sarah Palin when it comes to ruling the TV ratings.
And so far, Palin has gotten the better of Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, too
The total number of viewers for Thursday’s vice presidential debate when adding all 12 broadcast and cable network audiences together is 51.4 million viewers according to the Nielsen company, the organization that measures television ratings. This is far below the 60 million some people breathlessly predicted.
It pales in comparison to the 70 million people who tuned in to see the much-anticipated showdown between Joe Biden and Alaska Governor Sarah “Can I call you Joe?” Palin in 2008.
Joe Biden and Sarah Palin’s vice presidential debate in 2008 is the all-time VP debate ratings winner. Photo: AP.
Palin and Biden’s debate audience also topped the 67 million who watched the first presidential debate of 2012 between President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney.
Fox News drew the largest overall audience with 10 million viewers for the 9 to 10:30 p.m. Eastern debate. This is just slightly less than Fox’s audience for the first Presidential debate between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. CBS claims the largest broadcast audience with 8.31 million viewers, just edging out ABC’s 8.29 million viewers. NBC was third with 7.85 million viewers. MSNBC recorded 4.37 million viewers, followed by CNN with 4.14 million.
Overall, the viewership is down significantly from the network audiences for the Biden – Palin Debate. ABC drew 13.1 million viewers, NBC 12.8 million and CBS 11.1 million.
Most viewers on Thursday were over 55 years old, 26.7 million, compared to only 7.1 million between the ages of 18 to 34.
It’s important to note that Nielsen does not measure the number of people watching the debate on television in offices, bars or other locations; and it does not measure anyone watching online, which would add millions of viewers to the total. Many of these viewers were likely in the younger age group not watching in great numbers on TV.
Joe Biden and Paul Ryan were up against some tough counter programming. There was a baseball playoff games underway between the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles, and Thursday Night Football featuring the Pittsburgh Steelers and Tennessee Titans. Both games had audiences of five to six million viewers.
The showdown between Joe Biden and the Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin set the record for any debate of vice presidential running mates, and has since been depicted in detail in the HBO movie “Game Change.”
Gayle Lynn Falkenthal, APR, is President/Owner of the Falcon Valley Group in San Diego, California. Read more Media Migraine in the Communities at The Washington Times. Follow Gayle on Facebook and on Twitter @PRProSanDiego.
Please credit “Gayle Falkenthal for Communities at WashingtonTimes.com” when quoting from or linking to this story.
Copyright © 2012 by Falcon Valley Group
This article is the copyrighted property of the writer and Communities @ WashingtonTimes.com. Written permission must be obtained before reprint in online or print media. REPRINTING TWTC CONTENT WITHOUT PERMISSION AND/OR PAYMENT IS THEFT AND PUNISHABLE BY LAW.
