Showdown a presidential debate record

The showdown between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump appears likely to set a record for the mostwatched US presidential debate ever.

Preliminary estimates from 11 of the networks that carried the debate totalled 81.4million viewers, which would topple a record that had stood for 36 years.

A final viewership estimate from the Nielsen company was not immediately available.

The previous record for presidential debate viewership was the 80.6million people who saw the only debate in 1980 between incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter and his Republican challenger Ronald Reagan.

No debate since then had exceeded 70million viewers.