Final Obama-McCain debate had fewer viewers than last week’s

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As the early numbers indicated, Wednesday’s third and final presidential debate between Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain drew ratings well below those of their second face-off, not to mention the vice presidential debate earlier this month.

An average of 56.5 million total viewers watched the 90-minute debate, which aired in prime time in much of the country, according to figures from Nielsen Media Research. The cumulative figure includes 11 ad-supported broadcast and cable networks but does not include C-SPAN or PBS.

The Oct. 7 Obama-McCain debate drew 63.2 million viewers, while the Oct. 2 debate between Sen. Joe Biden and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was watched by nearly 70 million.

One factor in the reduced ratings: baseball. As the debate aired, Fox was covering the final game of the National League championship, with the Philadelphia Phillies beating the Los Angeles Dodgers to clinch the pennant. An average of 8 million viewers watched the game.

Even so, the final debate generated higher numbers than the third and final debate in 2004 between President Bush W. Bush and Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), which was watched by 51.2 million viewers.

-- Scott Collins