Logo

Ratings Flash: Debate Draws One-Third of Viewers

Sep 28, 2008  •  Post A Comment

Friday night’s presidential debate between Republican candidate John McCain and Democratic candidate Barack Obama drew a combined household rating of 33.2 in 55 of the 56 local TV markets metered by Nielsen Media Research.
St. Louis, the 21st largest Designated Market Area in the country, had the highest rating, a 52.1 with an 82 share of the audience, while Phoenix/Prescott in Sen. McCain’s home state, had the lowest rating, 24.8, with a 47 share.
The debate audience in Washington, D.C., the ninth-largest DMA, measured a 44.6 rating/68 share, the fourth-highest rating during the debate.
In New York, the largest DMA in the country, the debate averaged a 31.3 rating/48 share, to rank 43rd Friday night.
Chicago, the third-largest DMA and Sen. Obama’s hometown, the debate averaged a 30.7 rating/51 share to rank 45th in the data.
Los Angeles, the second-largest DMA, ranked 54th Friday night with the debate averaging a 26.4 rating/50 share.
One household ratings point represents 1% of the total TV homes in the markets being measured. One share point represents 1% of the TV sets in use at the time of measurement.
The Houston market, which was hit by Hurricane Ike, did not produce usable data.
Nielsen said it will release national data on the debate Monday.
The complete list of overnight data from the debate is posted here.

7 Comments

  1. McCain was a clear winner in my book. Obama you is usually a smooth talker acted like a bumbling fool

  2. Obama is terrible. And the recent credit crisis has his fingerprints all over it. Google Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. See what there role in this crisis has been. Then read about Obama’s connection with them. There is a very good video on youtube.
    During the brief period he was a lawyer Obama helped sue banks for not lending in bad neighborhoods (they used to call it redlining). Now he is complaining about the loans the banks had to make to keep him and his clients happy and calling them “predatory loans.”
    Who could want Obama to be helping to shape our economy for the future? Electing Obama would be like giving a failed CEO a golden parachute: his policies, his ideology, his lawsuits, his crooked friends, have helped get us to where we are now. And we are supposed to elect him president? I have a better idea, let’s go with the guy who tried to rein in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (only to be stopped by the corrupt Beltway machinery in the form of Dodd and Frank).

  3. Terrific article, thanks. Could you expand on the first part in a little more detail please?

  4. Neat blog layout! Very easy on the eyes.. i like the colors you picked out

  5. This is cool! How did you learn the subject when you were a newbie?

  6. This is cool! How did you learn this stuff when you were new to it?

  7. I certainly admire your design. Would it be possible that you could contact me with your graphic?

Leave a Reply to Rosalie Steins Cancel Reply

Email (will not be published)