Because Bloomberg TV is not publicly rated, we won’t see TV ratings from last night’s GOP debate at Dartmouth. But another way to gauge interest — at least the morning after — is with Google. Just before NoonET, Google Trends, which tracks hot topics on the internet across the globe, showed three debate-related topics (“999,” “New Hampshire debate” and “Mitt Romney”) among the top 20 trending items.
Having a grouping of three topics appear on Google trends at any one time is rare. (Some of the others included “IOS 5 Release Date,” “Gumby” and “Sukkot”).
As for the format — roundtable instead of podium — David Zurawik, of the Baltimore Sun didn’t like what he saw: “Let me just say, I hope the next time Bloomberg presents a debate, it will think less of self-promotion and more of the voters and candidates. Tuesday night’s debate was neither engaging nor particularly enlightening with its attempt at fake TV intimacy.”
But Politico’s Keach Hagey liked the intimacy: “But the strangest moment was when it seemed – ever so briefly – to do the thing it had been touted to do: create a moment of civility and camaraderie… There were across-the-field laugh lines at previous debates, but this one seemed different – more intimate, warmer.”