Second McCain-Obama debate gets bigger viewership but can’t beat Biden-Palin

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The second match-up between Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama proved a strong draw with television viewers Tuesday night. More than 63 million people tuned in to watch the White House hopefuls debate in Nashville, a sizeable increase over the 52.4 million who watched their first forum on Sept. 26.

That makes Tuesday’s event the ninth-most watched presidential debate since Nielsen Media Research starting tracking the audience in 1960. But the presidential candidates still couldn’t match the interest level in their running mates, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Sen. Joe Biden, who garnered 69.9 million viewers for their sole debate on Oct. 2.

A dozen television networks have been airing the presidential debates live, and so far ABC seems to be the choice of most viewers. For the third debate in a row, the network had a bigger audience than their broadcast and cable counterparts, averaging 13.2 million viewers. ABC’s post-debate analysis -- anchored by Charles Gibson, Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos -- also was the biggest draw, with an average of 9.92 million viewers.

NBC placed second with its coverage of the 90-minute forum, garnering 10.86 million viewers, while CBS had 9.44 million.

Once again, the cable networks weren’t far behind. CNN had the biggest audience, averaging 9.23 million viewers, while Fox News followed with 8.77 million and MSNBC trailed with 3.77 million.

-- Matea Gold