This is why the Harris-Trump debate could set a viewership record

The presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, scheduled for September 10, could be the most watched debate yet. ABC News will moderate the debate with David Muir and Linsey Davis as moderators. For Donald Trump, this will be his seventh presidential debate (including the debate with Joe Biden last June) and more than for any other candidate. For Kamala Harris, it will be the first.

There are a number of reasons why a record audience could be possible. A renewed interest in the election as Kamala Harris replaces Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee. Historically, the first presidential debate is the most watched. The possibility that this could be the only debate between Harris and Trump. Also, Donald Trump was involved in three of the four most watched debates. Additionally, there is the ability to stream the debate on a number of platforms and devices (both metered and unmetered). The only 2020 vice presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Mike Pence is the second most watched debate to date.

The most-watched presidential debate was between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump on September 26, 2016. It was the first of three debates between the candidates and averaged 84 million viewers across 13 networks, according to Nielsen. It was also the first debate in 36 years to have more than 70 million viewers. The debate was broadcast against a NFL Monday Night Football on ESPN (Atlanta vs. New Orleans), resulting in a 36% drop in ratings compared to the corresponding game the previous season.

In addition to C-Span, the viewership numbers also did not include a number of streaming platforms on various devices that were not counted. After doing some calculations, NPR’s David Folkenflik had noted in an interview: “If you look at the live streams from seven different major networks, including Al-Jazeera, ABC News, NowThis News, The New York Times, Univision, Fox and a few others, that was over 35 million viewers. They are not counted like television viewers, but 35 million people watched at least some of the live streams of the debate that way.”

Folkenflik added: “About 5 million people watched the live streams and streams on YouTube. And that doesn’t even include the individual websites – for example, it’s estimated that over 2.4 million people watched the free feed on CNN.com.”

The only other presidential debate to average over 80 million viewers was in 1980 between incumbent President Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. The debate took place on October 28, just one week before Election Day. An earlier debate was held on September 21, featuring Reagan and third-party candidate John Anderson. Carter refused to participate in a three-way debate, so there was only one debate between the two leading candidates. Without digital media and CNN, the only 24-hour news channel, which launched in June, the debate still averaged 80.6 million viewers. There had been no vice presidential debate that year.

The third most-watched debate was the first debate between incumbent President Donald Trump and Joe Biden in 2020. The debate took place on September 29 amid the pandemic and averaged 73.1 million viewers across 16 networks, according to Nielsen. The audience included viewers outside the home and online. The second debate, scheduled for October 15, was canceled due to COVID. The final debate took place the following week and averaged 63 million viewers across 15 networks.

The only other presidential debate to average over 70 million viewers was between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, also in 2016. The third and final debate of 2016 took place on October 19 and averaged 71.6 million viewers across 12 networks.

Kamala Harris’ only debate on the national stage took place in 2020. The only vice presidential debate between incumbent Mike Pence and Harris took place on October 7 and averaged 57.9 million viewers across 18 networks. The ratings were higher than this year’s debate between Biden and Trump on June 27, which averaged 51.3 million viewers.

In addition, the Harris-Pence debate was the second most watched vice presidential debate, surpassed only by the 2008 debate between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden. The 2008 debate averaged 69.9 million viewers. The only vice presidential debate of 2024, between Tim Walz and JD Vance, is scheduled for October 1 in New York City. Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan of CBS News will be the moderators.

For the 90-minute debate, scheduled to take place on September 10 at the National Convention Center in Philadelphia, ABC News has set ground rules similar to those used for CNN’s debate last June between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. After some discussion, which is still ongoing, the network has announced that the microphones will be muted. (The Harris team does not want to mute the microphones the entire time.)

Additionally, there will be no live audience, other networks can broadcast the debate simultaneously, and there will be two commercial breaks. Additionally, both candidates are prohibited from taking notes on stage or speaking to campaign staff during breaks. Podium placement and the order of closing arguments will be decided by a coin toss.

Donald Trump has criticized ABC News. He criticized political journalist Jonathan Karl’s interview with Republican Senator Tom Cotton. Additionally, Trump said Disney executive Dana Walden is a friend of Kamala Harris (ABC says Walden works in Disney’s corporate and financial divisions, not in news). Earlier this year, Trump filed a defamation suit against ABC News and George Stephanopoulos. ABC News says Stephanopoulos was not involved in the debate.