Today's Edition
NEW YORK (REUTERS)
Roughly 48 million TV viewers tuned in to watch Thursday's U.S. presidential debate between Democratic President Joe Biden and Republican rival Donald Trump, according to preliminary Nielsen data.
The numbers suggest the final audience will be about one-third lower than the 73 million people who watched the candidates’ first face-off in 2020.
The relatively low numbers compared to past debates in recent election cycles could indicate low voter enthusiasm for both candidates.
Media experts were looking to see how a new format by host CNN would play out and whether it would provide a template for future debates. The restrictions of that format - which included the option for CNN to mute the candidates' microphones - imposed some discipline on the candidates and should be emulated by other networks, three media experts said.
CNN, which held the exclusive rights to present the debate, allowed candidates two minutes for each answer and one minute for rebuttals and muted their microphones if they exceeded those limits.
