Lenin's Law
29th September 2008, 00:26
So much for all the Obama liberal hype about how he has galvanized and inspired the nation. Ratings for the bourgeois debate were lower than that of Bush-Kerry and remain a far cry from what they were even 20 years ago. Now I fully expect liberals to cynically blame the "uneducated, apathetic masses" for the low turnout instead of the increasing anger and hostility of the masses to the big business parties of capital.
The first debate between John McCain and Barack Obama is on track to pull a surprisingly average viewership number, drawing fewer households in the preliminary ratings than George W. Bush's face off against John Kerry four years ago.
In the meter-market overnights, Friday night's 90-minute debate in Mississippi received a preliminary household rating of 34.7, according to Nielsen Media Research.
That's 12% lower than the national number from the 2004 debate, which aired on a Thursday -- generally TV's most-watched night of the week. Friday's number is only slightly above George W. Bush and Al Gore's first debate in 2000 and the Clinton-Dole debate in 1996.
The McCain-Obama rating represents 55 of the 56 largest TV viewing markets in the country and includes ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, PBS, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, Telemundo, TeleFutura, and BBCA.
A much firmer sense of the debate's popularity will be available Monday when Nielsen releases the national numbers -- including total viewers -- so the debate's overall rank could shift. One media report is extrapolating that the rating equals 57 million viewers, but Nielsen will not confirm this. The St. Louis market had the largest debate audience, with a household rating of 52.1, while the Phoenix/Prescott market had the lowest rating, 24.8 (top markets here (http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/media_entertainment/obama-and-mccains-first-debate-drew-one-third-of-households-in-top-local-tv-markets/)).
Ratings expectations ran very high for Friday's event, given that Obama's and McCain's convention speeches set Nielsen viewership records, and all the will-he-or-won't-he suspense over whether McCain would participate. If last night's numbers are maintained in the nationals, most will probably blame the debate being scheduled on Friday night for the relatively average tune-in.
The first debate between John McCain and Barack Obama is on track to pull a surprisingly average viewership number, drawing fewer households in the preliminary ratings than George W. Bush's face off against John Kerry four years ago.
In the meter-market overnights, Friday night's 90-minute debate in Mississippi received a preliminary household rating of 34.7, according to Nielsen Media Research.
That's 12% lower than the national number from the 2004 debate, which aired on a Thursday -- generally TV's most-watched night of the week. Friday's number is only slightly above George W. Bush and Al Gore's first debate in 2000 and the Clinton-Dole debate in 1996.
The McCain-Obama rating represents 55 of the 56 largest TV viewing markets in the country and includes ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, PBS, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, Telemundo, TeleFutura, and BBCA.
A much firmer sense of the debate's popularity will be available Monday when Nielsen releases the national numbers -- including total viewers -- so the debate's overall rank could shift. One media report is extrapolating that the rating equals 57 million viewers, but Nielsen will not confirm this. The St. Louis market had the largest debate audience, with a household rating of 52.1, while the Phoenix/Prescott market had the lowest rating, 24.8 (top markets here (http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/media_entertainment/obama-and-mccains-first-debate-drew-one-third-of-households-in-top-local-tv-markets/)).
Ratings expectations ran very high for Friday's event, given that Obama's and McCain's convention speeches set Nielsen viewership records, and all the will-he-or-won't-he suspense over whether McCain would participate. If last night's numbers are maintained in the nationals, most will probably blame the debate being scheduled on Friday night for the relatively average tune-in.