The second broadcast debate of the 2012 Presidential primary cycle has become the most-watched debate yet, being viewed by 7.63 million total viewers and 2.10 million viewers in the key adults 25-54 demo. By comparison, the first broadcast debate of the cycle ran on CBS last month, and drew 5.5 million viewers and 1.5 million demo viewers.
The ABC debate topped the September 22 Fox News debate and the September 7 MSNBC debate to become the most watched debate in both total and demo viewers, respectively.
See how it stacks up on our TVNewser debate ranker:
| Debate | Network | Total Viewers | A25-54 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec. 10 | ABC | 7,630,000 | 2,100,000 |
| Nov. 22 | CNN | 3,599,000 | 1,041,000 |
| Nov. 12 | CBS | 5,480,000 | 1,520,000 |
| Nov. 9 | CNBC | 3,332,000 | 993,000 |
| Oct. 18 | CNN | 5,468,000 | 1,651,000 |
| Oct. 11 | Bloomberg | NA | NA |
| Sept. 22 | Fox News | 6,107,000 | 1,701,000 |
| Sept. 12 | CNN | 3,600,000 | 1,100,000 |
| Sept. 7 | MSNBC | 5,411,000 | 1,728,000 |
| Aug. 11 | Fox News | 5,053,000 | 1,430,000 |
| June 13 | CNN | 3,162,000 | 918,000 |
| May 5 | Fox News | 3,258,000 | 854,000 |