Friday night’s preliminary ratings for the first presidential debate are in for the broadcast networks. According to ZAP2It ABC was the big winner. In the 9pm hour ABC had 6.4 rating/10 share of the audience. NBC had a 4.9/8, and CBS had a 4.8/8. FOX’s debate coverage drew a 2.4/4. At 10pm, ABC kept the lead with a 5.6/9; NBC had a 4.5/8; CBS had a 4.3/7. Again, these are preliminary. Final numbers will be released tomorrow. Friday’s cable ratings will also come out tomorrow around 4pmET.
By another measure, Fox News Channel had had nearly 300,000 unique votes during their text message voting window. (A unique vote is one vote per mobile phone). It was by far the most text messages Fox News has had for an event. The network did something similar during the GOP primary debates. FNC viewers crowned McCain the winner of Friday’s debate.
And in yet another measure, TVNewser asked you which network you watched for coverage of the debate. With more than 2,900 votes, it’s very close. As of this writing only four votes separate first place MSNBC (553 votes) and second place FNC (549) and CNN is very close behind with 539 votes. FOX broadcast and NBC are fourth and fifth, respectively, in this very informal, unscientific, one vote per computer election.
That said, you can still vote by clicking here.