Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton attracted 66.5 million TV viewers to their second presidential debate Monday night.
That’s a very, very large audience. But not a record-breaking one. Clinton and Trump’s first debate attracted 84 million viewers, more than any other debate in history.
And the all-time record for a second presidential debate remains unbroken: In 1992, Bill Clinton, George Bush and Ross Perot generated an audience of 69.9 million.
Still: It’s a huge number in any era, and particularly in 2016, when audiences have so many other things they can look at, both on TV and on their phones or other digital screens.
Including pro football: Last night NBC didn’t air the debate at all, and showed the Green Bay - New York game instead. That one drew at least 15 million people.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
Will you support Vox’s explanatory journalism?
Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what we’re trying to do at Vox, there are a couple reasons that we can't rely only on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on.
First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead.
Second, we’re not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. We can’t do that if we have a paywall.
That’s why we also turn to you, our readers, to help us keep Vox free. If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today?
Yes, I'll give $5/month
Yes, I'll give $5/month
We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and
Google Pay. You can also contribute via
:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/51295005/613703308.0.jpg)
