The vice presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Mike Pence had an audience of more than 50 million people, according to Nielsen Media Research.
Wednesday’s debate, which was on all cable and broadcast news channels, was most watched via Fox News. The conservative-leaning network had more than 11 million people tuning into the debate through its network, which was significantly more than any other channel. ABC News was the only other outlet that had more than 7.5 million viewers.
The Fox broadcast channel brought up the rear, with slightly more than 4 million viewers.
The vice presidential debate had a larger audience than the 2016 vice presidential debate between Pence and Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, who was Hillary Clinton’s running mate. The debate had 35 million viewers on the same seven channels, according to CNN.
The first presidential debate between President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden had more than 70 million viewers. The status of the next two debates is in question.
The Commission on Presidential Debates announced on Thursday that the second debate, scheduled for Oct. 15, would be virtual given the president’s battle with the coronavirus. The president denounced the plan and said he wouldn’t participate in it. The campaign offered a different solution — pushing the second and third debates back a week to ensure the president would not still be contagious, but the Biden campaign has rebuked that offer.
