(Bloomberg) -- About 37 million people watched the vice presidential debate on broadcast and cable channels, making the matchup between Indiana Governor Mike Pence and Virginia Senator Tim Kaine the lowest-rated since 2000, according to Nielsen.
Comcast Corp.'s NBC was the most-watched network, drawing more than 7 million viewers for the contest. Here's how the top broadcast and cable networks fared:
| Network | Audience (in millions) |
|---|---|
| NBC | 7.028 |
| CBS | 6.462 |
| ABC | 6.149 |
| Fox News | 6.065 |
| CNN | 4.140 |
| MSNBC | 3.122 |
| Source: Nielsen |
It was the smallest audience for a vice presidential debate since 2000 -- when 29 million people watched Dick Cheney and Joe Lieberman square off. An estimated 51.4 million people watched the 2012 vice-presidential debate between Joe Biden and Republican Representative Paul Ryan, while about 70 million tuned in for the 2008 encounter between Biden and then-Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, according to Nielsen.
The first presidential debate between Clinton and Trump on Sept. 26 drew a record political audience of at least 84 million viewers, according to Nielsen.
To contact the reporter on this story: Gerry Smith in New York at gsmith233@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Crayton Harrison at tharrison5@bloomberg.net, Paul Barbagallo
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