73 Million Viewers watched the VP Debate...second most ever for any debate

[whottt]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/6039207.html



WASHINGTON — More than 73 million people watched the vice-presidential debate between Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Sen. Joe Biden on Thursday night, making it the most watched vice-presidential debate in U.S. history and very likely the second-most-watched political debate of any kind.

It ranks behind only the Oct. 28, 1980, debate between President Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, which logged nearly 81 million viewers.

Nielsen Media Research said Friday that 70 million people watched the 90-minute debate across ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox broadcast network, Fox News Channel, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, Telemundo, Telefutura and BBC America. PBS projects another 3.5 million watched the debate, moderated by its own Gwen Ifill, on public broadcasting stations.

Before the Biden-Palin match, the most watched vice-presidential debate was the only other one to feature a female candidate. George H.W. Bush and Geraldine Ferraro drew 56.7 million viewers on Oct. 11, 1984, Nielsen said.


The 1992 debate
After Carter-Reagan, the presidential debate that drew the most viewers was the Oct. 15, 1992, three-way among then-President Bush, Bill Clinton and Ross Perot, Nielsen said. That logged 69.9 million viewers.

Timing may also have played a part in the big ratings. Thursday is one of the most popular nights of the week for TV-watching, while Friday, when McCain and Obama first debated, is one of the least popular.

Generally, only Super Bowls bring together so many Americans to watch the same thing.

[whottt]

Holeeey , I knew it was going to be big, bigger than the Presidential debate...I didn't know it as going to be that big.

73 million viewers...smearing the Presidential debate, shattering it. Second most watched debate in history.


Guess what? They weren't tuning in to see Biden.

Just like they didn't tune in like that to McCain V Obama.


Poll that mother ers.

And it's not just TV, it's her personal appearances, it's party activism, it's contributions...


She's like Elvis...


There has never been another politician like her...and there has never been another VP selection that has made the impact she has.


Fact.



It's the one thing McCain has done right in this entire campaign. And he's holding her back...

My advice, stop saying One Heartbeat away from the Presidency and start saying a loooooooooong 4 years away from the Presidency...


It'll have more impact.

[timvp]

Damn, whottt just owned half the political forum. He called it.

Props.

[whottt]

So like I was saying...

It's was a mistake for me to say she's got Reagan or Clinton level charisma...she's got more than they do.


Now or 4 years from now...this woman is going to be your President..so you might as well get used to the idea.

[whottt]

Damn, whottt just owned half the political forum. He called it.

Props.

...it's all her.


This woman is fearless, but then what do you expect...she's a point guard

[MannyIsGod]

Yeah what did he call? I'd love to see his prediction on the ratings. Link?

If Whottt really wants to call something he should put up his le or sig for the election results

[whottt]

BTW...if she continues to dominate the ratings all the networks are soon going to throw Obama under the bus quicker than boutons desecrates an American Flag when no one is watching. Ratings rule over politics...every time.

[MannyIsGod]

So everyone is tuning to see her and loves her but....

"Regardless of which candidate you happen to support, who do you think did the best job in the debate: Joe Biden or Sarah Palin?"
Biden 51%
Palin 36%

[MannyIsGod]

BTW...if she continues to dominate the ratings all the networks are soon going to throw Obama under the bus quicker than boutons desecrates an American Flag when no one is watching. Ratings rule over politics...every time.

How's she going to dominate the ratings? Is she going to debate for McCain? Is she going to get her own talk show? Who's going to stop Putin while she's doing this?

[Clandestino]

How's she going to dominate the ratings? Is she going to debate for McCain? Is she going to get her own talk show? Who's going to stop Putin while she's doing this?

sure as not obama...

[whottt]

How's she going to dominate the ratings? Is she going to debate for McCain? Is she going to get her own talk show? Who's going to stop Putin while she's doing this?

Do you know how hungry the media is to interview this woman?

Holding her out of interviews can be turned into a major positive.

Hint: She outdraws the broadcast news when she's on cable news.

And she's learning...

All in all...she is keeping McCain in this race, at some point he's got to step up and do something.


I'm predicting he'll come through with something...he's come back from the dead a couple of times. He proved he could do it at the RNC.

He needs to lead, or else he needs to get the out of Palin's way.

[MannyIsGod]

So she's going to give lots of interviews now? Yeah I call bull .

I thought the media was against her, isn't it?

[whottt]

They can't pull the same ...she countered the attempted Quaylisization and she countered it well.

W was never able to do it(in large part because he is much stupider than Quayle was)...and that should be cause for alarm.


I don't think she was was the one afraid to do interviews and I think trying to figure out if she was going to contradict McCain's stances was her biggest issue. There is no linera logic to his stances...that's always been the problem connnecting with him.

She didn't become a journalist because she was afraid of the camera though...I think she quite likes the camera...and more importantly, it likes her.

[MannyIsGod]

Dude McCain is going to send her to fund raiser after fund raiser after fund raiser. Thats her role now. She's not going to be in the public eye other than at rallys.

[TomBrady]

73 million viewers tuned in to see if Palin would fall flat on her face. It's like watching a bloody car accident on the side of the freeway, you just can't not look.

If she really is the future of the Republican Party may god save them. I really thought Republicans could go no lower than Bush but they have really outdone themselves with Palin. Kudos.

Obama will cruise to an easy reelection if they are dumb enough to nominate her to the top of the ticket.

*wink* MAVERICK *wink* MAVERICK *wink* YOU BETCHA *wink* MAVERICK *wink* TAKIN' SHOTS FROM HIS OWN PARTY LEFT AND RIGHT *wink* MAVERICK *wink*

[whottt]

73 million viewers tuned in to see if Palin would fall flat on her face. It's like watching a bloody car accident on the side of the freeway, you just can't not look.

If she really is the future of the Republican Party may god save them. I really thought Republicans could go no lower than Bush but they have really outdone themselves with Palin. Kudos.

Obama will cruise to an easy reelection if they are dumb enough to nominate her to the top of the ticket.

*wink* MAVERICK *wink* MAVERICK *wink* YOU BETCHA *wink* MAVERICK *wink* TAKIN' SHOTS FROM HIS OWN PARTY LEFT AND RIGHT *wink* MAVERICK *wink*

Congrats...you tied Shasta

[AZLouis]

Too bad it wasn't 73 million supporters.

I know of 20 households that watched just to see if she would drool.

Plus it makes for funnier viewing when you watch the Tina Fey skit on SNL when you've seen the real skit by Sarah Palin.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

The more whottt posts about Palin the more he sounds like a desperate man who bet his life savings on her success or something.


It's like he can't bring himself to admit alot of people tuned in to watch her fail or to see if she was as stupid as SNL depicted. Nope. Everyone who watches her gets excited and energized and is eager to support her. Fact.

[Yonivore]

The more whottt posts about Palin the more he sounds like a desperate man who bet his life savings on her success or something.


It's like he can't bring himself to admit alot of people tuned in to watch her fail or to see if she was as stupid as SNL depicted. Nope. Everyone who watches her gets excited and energized and is eager to support her. Fact.

The more I see of Obama supporters the more convinced I am there will be mass suicides and riots, among his supporters, if he's not elected.

Hey Manny, is there a poll out there that asks the question of why people tuned into the vice presidential debate?

[Cant_Be_Faded]

Okay you're right Yonivore, we get it. All 73 million viewers, including the Obama supporters were just attracted by Palin's magnetic personality, her cute ass mannerisms, and her ideology. She's Reagan in a dress. We get it.
Reagan.
Dress.

[Yonivore]

Okay you're right Yonivore, we get it. All 73 million viewers, including the Obama supporters were just attracted by Palin's magnetic personality, her cute ass mannerisms, and her ideology. She's Reagan in a dress. We get it.
Reagan.
Dress.

Finally.

[baseline bum]

LMAO. Lots of people tuned in to see if she'd get stumped again like she did in her interviews with Gibson and Couric. If you can't see the appeal in that whott, then you're in some serious denial. It's why the Lakers get such high ratings; everyone hates Kobe, and wants to see him get destroyed. Even the Jazz used to get good ratings in the late 90s, and no one was rooting for them. For some reason lots of the conservative base loves her, but look at her approval ratings before the debate and it's clear more people tuned in to see her own herself like she has in the past.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

That's not true at all. They tuned in because this woman is exactly like Regan. She brings hope to masses exactly like Reagan. She can win a crowd like Reagan, and she can win this race, exactly like Reagan. The only difference, if you were wondering, is she wears a dress.

[Yonivore]

LMAO. Lots of people tuned in to see if she'd get stumped again like she did in her interviews with Gibson and Couric. If you can't see the appeal in that whott, then you're in some serious denial. It's why the Lakers get such high ratings; everyone hates Kobe, and wants to see him get destroyed.

That's a very one-sided view that discounts Palin/Lakers fans just because you despise their "team."

I'm not a Lakers fan - , as evidenced by my lack of participation in any other part of this forum, I'm not even a basketball fan - but, I find it hard to believe that 70 million people tuned in to watch the debate just because they were hoping to see Palin fail.

And, if they did, they were disappointed.

I think it's more likely they tuned in to find out if everything they've been hearing is true and, lo and behold, it isn't.

We'll see.

[TomBrady]

Congrats...you tied Shasta

Don't ever speak to me maggot. You will speak when spoken to, unless otherwise directed.