Media

Total debate audience sets all-time record

by Joe Concha - 10/25/16 1:14 PM ET

The 2016 presidential debates will go down as the most watched in the history of any election cycle.

In total, 259 million viewers watched the three debates between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton as well as the one debate between vice presidential nominees Mike Pence (R) and Tim Kaine (D), according to Nielsen.

{mosads}The previous high was in 1992, when the debates totaled 250 million viewers. That year, the three presidential debates were between George W. Bush (R), Bill Clinton (D) and Ross Perot (I), while the VP debate was between Dan Quayle (R), Al Gore (D) and James Stockdale (I).

The Trump-Clinton face-offs took two of the top three spots in all-time viewership for single debates as well.

The first 2016 debate — in Hempstead, N.Y., on Sept. 26 — drew 84 million viewers, becoming the most-watched presidential debate ever.

And the third and final debate of this year’s cycle — last week in Las Vegas — checks in third all-time, with 71 million.

A 1980 debate between Jimmy Carter (D) and Ronald Reagan (R), formerly the most-watched ever, slips to second all-time, with 80 million viewers.

Cable news outlets in particular have benefited from the Trump-Clinton matchup. Per Nielsen research, 91.7 million viewers tuned in to Fox News, CNN and MSNBC for the four general election debates this year — up 10 percent from the last election cycle.

In comparison, the 2012 debates drew 83 million total viewers to the cable networks while the 2008 debates drew 89 million.

The uptick on traditional TV is noteworthy given the rise of streaming options that weren’t as available in 2012 or 2008.

Tags Al Gore Bill Clinton Donald Trump Hillary Clinton Mike Pence Tim Kaine