Vance Vs. Walz: Here's How Many People Watched VP Debate

The highly anticipated vice-presidential debate between J.D. Vance and Tim Walz was watched by 43.2 million as one of the key television events ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

Here's a look at how the viewership compares to other debates and which media networks had the highest figures.

What Happened: Tuesday night's vice-presidential debate could be the final debate for the presidential and vice-presidential candidates, with just over a month until voting day.

Hosted by Paramount Global PARA PARAA owned CBS News, the debate was 90 minutes with several commercial breaks.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, 43.15 million people watched the vice-presidential debate across 15 networks.

Tuesday's viewership was down 25.2% from the total of 57.92 million for the 2020 vice presidential debate, which featured Mike Pence and Kamala Harris.

The official viewership figure could be bad news for those who bet on the total on prediction market Polymarket. The odds for 40 million to 45 million viewers stood at 14%, while the odds for under 40 million were 18%. When combined, this gave a 32% chance that the debate would draw 45 million or fewer viewers, making it a less likely outcome compared to higher estimates like 60 million and above.

On Polymarket, users can deposit funds using USDC USDC/USD via the Polygon MATIC/USD network, or directly from a crypto account with Ethereum ETH/USD. In each betting market, the winning option pays out at $1.

The last 11 vice-presidential debates (1976 through 2020) have averaged around 46.5 million viewers, with no debate taking place in 1980. This year's vice-presidential debate ranked below the historical average.

The 2008 vice-presidential debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin was the most watched, with 69.9 million viewers. The 1996 vice-presidential debate between Al Gore and Jack Kemp saw a low of 26.6 million viewers.

Two presidential debates have taken place in 2024 with a June debate between Biden and Donald Trump having 51.3 million viewers and a September debate between Harris and Trump having 67.1 million viewers.

The 2024 viewership failed to reach the same levels as the 73.1 million viewers who tuned in for the only 2020 presidential debate between Biden and Trump.

The first debate between Hillary Clinton and Trump in 2016 set a record with 84 million viewers. Two additional debates saw 66.5 million and 71.6 million viewers, respectively, ranking among the most-watched presidential debates ever.

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Media Winners: The report said the majority of the 43.15 million viewers came from the Big Four broadcast networks and the three largest cable news outlets.

Around 90% of the viewers were split between FOX, CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN, Fox News and MSNBC.

While CBS was the host of the debate, they allowed simulcasting of the event.

Here's a look at some of the viewership figures by network:

CBS: 9.57 million viewers
Fox News, owned by Fox Corporation FOX FOXA: 7.93 million viewers
ABC, owned by The Walt Disney Company DIS: 6.35 million viewers
NBC, owned by Comcast Corporation CMCSA: 5.67 million viewers
MSNBC, owned by Comcast: 4.88 million viewers
CNN, owned by Warner Bros. Discovery WBD: 3.37 million viewers
Fox, owned by Fox: 2.48 million viewers
Fox Business, owned by Fox: 276,000 viewers

The rest of the viewership was split between various media outlets, according to the report.

CBS was the likely winner of the debate as the host and with the highest viewership. With the commercial breaks, the media network was likely able to charge a premium for advertising space.

The media network could also benefit from an upcoming "60 Minutes" election special airing Monday Oct. 7 at 8 p.m. ET. The special will feature an interview with Harris, with Trump backing out of an appearance on the episode.

Fox could also be a winner, as it has not hosted any of its own debates, but its viewership figures for the simulcast broadcasts on Fox News and the Fox broadcast channel have performed well.

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