Tv, Debate | featured news

The third presidential debate drew a lot of viewers on Monday night, but not as many as the two debates that preceded it. 53.9 million people tuned in to watch President Obama and Mitt Romney face off, according to Nielsen. That number made the night, which focused on foreign policy, the lowest-rated of the three debates. As the Washington Post pointed out, there were several things working against the ratings.

The second, and more combative, presidential debate between President Obama and Mitt Romney attracted an audience of more than 65.6 million people, according to Nielsen. Ratings were up nearly 4% for Tuesday night's debate at Hofstra University in New York, moderated by Candy Crowley, when compared with the second debate in 2008 between Obama and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz).

NBC, usually protective about the process of putting together Saturday Night Live, allowed access to the show’s writers, stars and rehearsals this week as they prepared their debate sketch.

Zingers flew and egos crackled Saturday night as Fox News’s Bill O’Reilly and “Daily Show” host Jon Stewart debated in front of a boisterous audience at the George Washington University’s Lisner Auditorium.

The debate reached 67.2 million viewers, an increase of 28 percent over the first debate in the 2008 presidential campaign. The measurement and information company Nielsen said Thursday that 11 networks provided live coverage of the debate.

Fox News personality Bill O’Reilly and Daily Show host Jon Stewart will face off once again, in a 90-min. debate dubbed “The Rumble in the Air-Conditioned Auditorium” at George Washington University on Oct. 6. No strangers to mudslinging grudge fests, O’Reilly and Stewart have gone head to head before. The two have appeared on each other’s shows regularly since 2001.