Vance-Walz debate draws 43.2 million viewers, down 25% from VP duel in 2020

Wednesday’s vice presidential debate between Republican nominee JD Vance and Democratic nominee Tim Walz was largely devoid of fireworks, and that may have been reflected in the ratings for the event. The debate, produced by CBS News and moderated by The Eye’s Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan, drew about 43.2 million viewers – 25% less than the 2020 vice presidential debate between Mike Pence and Kamala Harris, which averaged 57.9 million reached viewers.

The CBS debate was simulcast on ABC, Fox, NBC, PBS, CNN, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, NewsNation, Merit Street Media, Scrippts News, CNN en Español, Fox Business Network, NBC Universo and Newsmax and ran from 9 p.m to 10:45 p.m. ET.

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Even in comparison, last month’s presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump averaged more than 67 million viewers.

Wednesday night’s debate covered controversial topics such as immigration and January 6th.

Nielsen hasn’t broken out ratings by network — and hasn’t done so for this year’s debates, though it wasn’t a surprise in this case, as CBS owner Paramount Global has currently suspended Nielsen ratings subscriptions due to a prolonged lull.

But according to Fox News Channel figures, CBS led the evening with 9.1 million viewers, followed by Fox News (7.7 million), ABC (6.1 million), NBC (5.4 million), MSNBC (4, 6 million) and CNN (3.2 million). and Fox (2.4 million).

Meanwhile, ABC announced Wednesday that Walz will appear as a guest on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” next Monday, Oct. 7. The appearance will be Walz’s first appearance on a late-night talk show.

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