CNN says 47.9 million people watched the presidential debate across all networks

CNN said Friday that 47.9 million people watched the presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump across broadcast and cable TV as well as streaming.

While still a sizable TV audience, it represents an approximately 34% drop in viewership from the first 2020 Biden-Trump debate, which drew 73 million viewers.

Last night's debate was simulcast across all major news networks including NBC, ABC, CBS, and Fox as well as PBS, C-SPAN and MSNBC.

Among broadcast and cable networks, CNN pulled in 9 million viewers, just ahead of Fox News at 8.8 million and ABC News at 8.7 million. CNN said its performance more than doubled MSNBC at 4 million.

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