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).
