The first presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump drew an estimated 67.1 million viewers across 17 television networks, according to Nielsen data.
The debate hosted by ABC News and aired across 17 television networks easily surpassed the 51 million who tuned in to the June debate hosted by CNN between Trump and President Joe Biden, a face-off that ultimately led to Biden’s withdrawal from the race and Harris’ ascendancy. Tuesday night’s 90-minute matchup in Philadelphia, moderated by ABC News anchors David Muir and Linsey Davis, marked the first time Harris and Trump had met face-to-face, resulting in a high-stakes clash over abortion, immigration and the 2020 election results.
Interest in the new Democratic candidate and how she would fare against the former president helped boost interest.
While Tuesday’s debate drew the largest television audience of the year for a non-sports event, it represented a drop in total audience from 2020, when more than 73 million people watched the first debate between Trump and Biden across all television networks. In 2016, a record 84 million tuned in to the first debate between Hillary Clinton and Trump.
Viewership habits have changed dramatically since 2016, and Nielsen does not account for the myriad streaming and social media platforms that many also used to watch Tuesday’s debate. While fewer Americans watched the debate on television than in previous election years, millions more watched on digital platforms.
ABC, which hosted the debate, drew the most viewers Tuesday with more than 19 million people tuning in, followed by NBC with more than 10 million, and Fox News with more than 9 million.
ABC said the telecast the most-watched debate on any network in at least 16 years and that more than 7 million watched on the various Disney-owned streaming platforms.
During Tuesday night’s debate, Muir and Davis fact-checked Trump in real-time, correcting the record for millions watching at home, causing backlash from Trump and his allies.
Trump later assailed the network over the fact-checks, calling ABC “the most dishonest news organization, and that’s saying a lot.” The former president, who made at least 33 false claims during the debate, repeatedly insisted the event “was three on one” and suggested Disney’s FCC broadcast licenses should be revoked due to the moderators’ conduct.
In the days leading up to the debate, Disney pulled its ABC-owned stations from DirecTV, the nation’s third largest pay TV provider, in a bitter and protracted carriage dispute.
Hours before the debate, ABC offered to provide DirecTV a free feed of the telecast for a three-hour period. But the satellite provider rejected the offer, saying its subscribers could watch the debate on other networks and cause confusion amid a blackout of all Disney-owned channels on its platform, including ESPN and FX.
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