Debate’s 84M viewers topple 36-year ratings record
NEW YORK — The showdown between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump was the most-watched presidential debate ever, with 84 million viewers tuning in Monday.
The Nielsen company said viewership, over 13 different networks, toppled a record that had stood for 36 years. The previous record was the 80.6 million people who saw the only debate in 1980 between Jimmy Carter and GOP challenger Ronald Reagan. No debate since then had exceeded 70 million viewers.
Social media was humming, too, with Nielsen saying there were some 17.1 million Twitter interactions involving 2.7 million people Monday. Tivo said the moment during the debate that caused more people to pause their TV and play back what was said came near the end, when Trump said that he will “absolutely support” Clinton if she is elected president.
The biggest audience in U.S. TV history was the 114.4 million people who watched the 2015 Super Bowl between New England and Seattle.
The news was good for NBC. Not only did it have more viewers than any other network showing the debate, but “Nightly News” anchor Lester Holt’s reviews as moderator were more positive than Matt Lauer received at a national security forum this month.
But some Republicans suggested that Holt was unfair because he asked tougher questions of Trump, and challenged facts on Trump’s support for the war in Iraq and a court case involving “stopand-frisk.”
Interviewed by reporters after the debate, Trump said that “I thought Lester did a really good job.” But several hours later, Trump said he thought Holt earned a C or a C-plus and that he asked unfair questions.
The second of three debates will be Oct. 9.