As expected, the presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris on Tuesday (September 10) night was a very widely watched and much-discussed televised event. This was the first face-to-face (and possibly only) meeting of the nominees, following up on the consequential June debate between Trump and then-candidate Joe Biden.
So just how many people tuned in to watch the debate? Complete network viewership numbers are expected to be released later on in the day, but the early overnight figures (which are known to underestimate the total number of audiences, as they are based on broadcast averages for certain time periods and don’t include a full view of the total viewership) are in.
According to analyst Michael Mulvihill, this debate saw a marked increase in viewership over the Trump-Biden debate, as he wrote, “Last night debate earned an overnight rating of 32.8 and a 70 share across eight networks. That’s +28% higher than the Trump-Biden debate earlier this year.”
He went on to add a caveat, saying, “The 28% growth in the overnights ratings implies a national audience of over 65 million, but overnights haven’t been all that reliable as a predictor of the nationals lately, at least in sports, so I’d make that project with low confidence.”
Last night’s debate earned an overnight rating of 32.8 and a 70 share across eight networks. That’s +28% higher than the Trump-Biden debate earlier this year.
— Michael Mulvihill (@mulvihill79) September 11, 2024
The 28% growth in the overnight ratings implies a national audience of over 65 million, but the overnights haven’t been all that reliable as a predictor of the nationals lately, at least in sports, so I’d make that projection with low confidence.
— Michael Mulvihill (@mulvihill79) September 11, 2024
Mulvihill went on to add that the biggest segments of broadcast audiences came from the following cities, many of which are in swing states: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia (the site of the debate), West Palm Beach (where Trump lives), Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Detroit, New York, Kansas City, St. Louis, and Providence.
Top ten markets for last night’s debate:
Pittsburgh – 44.2
Philadelphia – 43.4
West Palm – 43.3
Minneapolis – 38.7
Milwaukee – 37.8
Detroit – 37.4
New York – 36.7
Kansas City – 36.7
St Louis – 36.2
Providence – 36.2— Michael Mulvihill (@mulvihill79) September 11, 2024
Full ratings figures from Nielsen’s report on the Trump-Biden debate that took place in June revealed that a total of 51.3 million people tuned in.
This post will be updated when the full figures for Tuesday’s debate are available.
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