65.6 Million Viewers Watch Second Presidential Debate

Matchup is down from first debate, up from 2008

By Andrea Morabito -- Broadcasting & Cable, 10/17/2012 5:45:34 PM

An average of 65.6 million people watched the second debate between President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney on Tuesday evening, according to Nielsen.

The town hall-style debate, which aired live from approximately 9-10:45 p.m., was down 2% from the first presidential debate this election cycle, though it gained 4% from the second presidential debate between Obama and Sen. John McCain in 2008.

Twelve networks carried the debate: ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, Telemundo, Univision, PBS, CNN, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, Current TV and CNBC.

On broadcast, NBC led with 13.8 million total viewers, ABC had 12.5 million, CBS drew 8.9 million and Fox averaged 4.6 million. Among the cable news networks, Fox News was the most-watched (11.1 million viewers), followed by CNN (5.8 million) and MSNBC (4.9 million).