Apparently, America is staying tuned in on the election. Nielsen Media Research reports 69.9 million U.S. viewers watched the vice-presidential showdown between Republican nominee Sarah Palin and Democrat Joe Biden debate Thursday night, making it the most watched vice presidential debates in history, according to Reuters.
Though totals have not yet been released, Nielsen reports that ratings in the country’s 55 biggest markets were 42 percent higher than they were for the presidential debate between John McCain and Barack Obama last Friday, which netted 10.2 million for ABC, 7.8 million for NBC, and 7.6 million for CBS.
This beats the old vice-presidential debate record held by the match-up between Geraldine Ferraro and George H.W. Bush in 1984, which brought in an averaged 56.7 million viewers.
