As the story goes, those who listened to the debate on the radio thought Nixon had won. But those listeners were in the minority. By 1960, 88% of American households had televisions — up from just 11% the decade before. The number of viewers who tuned in to the debate has been estimated as high as 74 million, by the Nielsen of the day, Broadcast Magazine. Those that watched the debate on TV thought Kennedy was the clear winner. Many say Kennedy won the election that night. Sorensen says the Kennedy team didn't realize what a game changer the debate was until the following day at a campaign event in Ohio. "The crowds for his motorcade were much larger than they'd ever been," he says. "That's when we knew that, if nothing else, Kennedy had firmed up support for himself in the Democratic party."
...Even Kennedy acknowledged the medium's role in his victory. On November 12, 1960, four days after winning the election by a narrow margin, he said, "It was the TV more than anything else that turned the tide.
...Up to that point, politics had not really been played out on television. "It was very much an entertainment medium," says Schroeder. "It wasn't a place for serious discourse."
The next televised presidential debate wouldn't take place for 16 years, largely because candidates became wary of their influence. Lyndon B. Johnson was too intimidated by the medium to take on Barry Goldwater in 1964, and Nixon, having been burned before, refused to debate on TV in both 1968 and 1972.
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better not do it again 
that's RACIST SC
