There was a significant drop in audience between the second and third presidential debates, according to numbers released by Nielsen Tuesday. Around 59.2 million people watched Monday night’s foreign policy-focused debate on TV, down from 65.6 million who tuned into the townhall debate at Hofstra University, which focused more on domestic issues.
More Americans watched Monday’s debate than watched the third presidential debate four years ago. In 2008, 56.5 million tuned in to the final debate between Barack Obama and John McCain. Nielsen ratings do not include CSPAN or online viewers, but do include the broadcast networks plus Telemundo, Univision, Current TV and the cable news networks.
