Historically, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan’s Oct. 28, 1980 face-off stands as the most watched presidential debate, with 80.6 million total viewers, while this year’s Super Bowl amassed 111.9 million.
Viewership for the first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton was, in a word, tremendous, according to very preliminary numbers.
Obama/Romney Round 1 went on to report 67.2 million total viewers; as extrapolated by Programming Insider, that puts Clinton/Trump on track for an audience of about 81 million.
Broadcast viewership for the debate (as well as Monday’s regularly scheduled programs) will be reported around 11 am ET; cable data will be folded in later.