Final Debate Draws Nearly 60 Million Viewers

Nearly 60 million television viewers at home tuned into the final presidential debate between President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, despite stiff competition from two big sporting events. Nielsen said 59.2 million viewers at home were watching during an average minute of the debate, down from 67.2 million for the first debate on Oct. 3 and 65.6 million for the second debate on Oct. 17. The vice-presidential debate on Oct. 11 drew 51.4 million viewers. The match-up between President Obama and Romney was up against a “Monday Night Football” game on ESPN that had 10.7 million viewers and the final game of the National League Championship Series on Fox, which drew 8.1 million viewers.