Surprising Debate Audience Figures

US Politics

Surprising Debate Audience Figures

Posted on 30 September 2008 by Denis Campbell

John McCain and Barack Obama Debate in Mississippi by Denis Campbell

Maybe we’re not as close-minded and polarised as the media would hope. This very informed electorate showed that every vote decision is being taken very seriously as, according to Nielsen, “only” 52.4 million US viewers in the USA tuned in to watch the first US Presidential Debate last Friday evening.

The pre-debate prediction was 80 million viewers so many were disappointed. Did they really just take Obama and McCain’s convention audiences of 40 million each and add them together? Are we, in their opinion, so polarised that only Democrats watch Obama and Republicans watch McCain?

The most interesting number?

The Metropolitan area with the fewest viewers was Phoenix, Arizona. Only 24.8% of television sets in use tuned in to the debate in the home state of Presidential candidate and US Senator John McCain.

Said one pundit quoting a voter asking why McCain’s figures were so low? “We’ve had to sit through his show for 20-years now and trust me it gets old really fast,” besides “Starship Atlantis” was on the Sci-Fi Channel.

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Denis Campbell is the American Editor of UK Progressive. He is a political and business pundit contributor to both BBC television and radio. Denis specializes in translating the American electoral and governing process for UK and EU audiences and vice versa, contributing regularly on UK elections and issues to the Huffington Post. He has contributed to newspapers and magazines around the globe. In his “spare” time, he is managing director of Target Point Ltd focused on social media, communication strategy, leveraging technology, corporate change and building world class selling organisations. Denis has lived in the EU since 1998.
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