Not since October 1992 -- when President George H.W. Bush faced Gov. Bill Clinton and Ross Perot -- have so many Americans tuned in for a presidential debate.
On Thursday, more than 65 million Americans saw the first debate between President Bush and Sen. John F. Kerry. Here's how many people watched on each channel, according to estimates from Nielsen Media Research:
NBC: 17.2 million
CBS: 13.5 million
ABC: 11.5 million
Fox News Channel: 9.6 million
Fox Broadcast Network: 5.2 million
CNN: 4.4 million
PBS: 3.1 million
MSNBC: 1.2 million
The sole vice presidential debate is scheduled to air Tuesday from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. Other presidential debates will be held on Oct. 8 and Oct. 13. All debates are scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.
-- David Folkenflik
