President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump will face off Thursday night in the first presidential debate of the 2024 election cycle.
A new Benzinga poll takes a look at how many people plan on watching the debate.
What Happened: CNN, a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery WBD will air the first 2024 presidential debate on Thursday, June 27 at 9 p.m. ET.
Benzinga recently asked readers if they planned on watching the debate on Thursday night. Here were the results:
- Yes: 64%
- No: 27%
- Not Sure: 9%
The majority of readers said they plan on tuning into the first presidential debate, which comes as some voters are still undecided on which candidate they will vote for in less than five months.
Benzinga also asked if viewers would tune in for the whole 90 minutes of the debate.
"How much of the debate do you plan to watch?" Benzinga asked.
- The results were:
- 10 Minutes: 7%
- 30 Minutes: 13%
- The Whole Debate (I'm a glutton for punishment): 53%
- Like I said… I'm not watching it: 27%
Why It's Important: The majority of respondents said they plan on watching the whole debate, which could be good news for CNN and other media companies airing the political event.
CNN has agreed to allow other networks to air the debate as long as the CNN watermark is displayed. FOX News, ABC, NBC and C-SPAN all plan on airing the debate.
The first presidential debate will include two commercial breaks during the 90 minutes.
The 2020 presidential election featured only two debates, the fewest since the 1996 election. Two presidential debates are currently planned for the 2024 election cycle.
The first presidential debate in September 2020 attracted 73 million viewers, becoming the third most watched presidential debate of all time.
A second 2020 presidential debate in October 2020 was watched by 63 million people, with 15 networks covering the event.
ABC, which is a unit of The Walt Disney Company DIS, is set to host a second 2024 presidential debate on Oct. 22. That debate will take place close to the 2024 election day of Nov. 5 and come in line with the later debates in the 2020 election cycle.
The study was conducted by Benzinga on June 24, 2024 and June 25, 2024 and included the responses of a diverse population of adults 18 or older. Opting into the survey was completely voluntary, with no incentives offered to potential respondents. The study reflects results from 120 adults.
Photo created with images from Oscar Ivan Lopez and mark reinstein/Shutterstock.com and artificial intelligence via Midjourney.
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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