About 48 million viewers watched Thursday’s presidential debate between Democratic President Joe Biden and his Republican rival Donald Trump, according to preliminary Nielsen data.
The figures suggest the final audience will be around a third lower than the 73 million people who watched the candidates’ first face-off in 2020.
These relatively low figures compared to debates in recent election cycles could be a sign of a lack of enthusiasm among voters for both candidates.
Media experts were looking for ways to gauge how CNN’s new format would play out and whether it would serve as a model for future debates. The restrictions imposed by the format – including CNN’s ability to mute candidates – have imposed a certain discipline on the candidates and are likely to be emulated by other networks, three media experts said.
CNN, which had exclusive rights to present the debate, gave candidates two minutes for each answer and one minute for rebuttals, and cut off their microphones if they exceeded those limits. The studio had no audience, and moderators Dana Bash and Jake Tapper did not fact-check the candidates in real time.
Mr. Biden delivered a halting and halting performance, while Mr. Trump made a series of exaggerated or false claims that, for the most part, were not verified by his opponent.
“Without an audience, you can get a sense of who and what these people are,” said Frank Sesno, a professor at the George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs and a former journalist for CNN.
“You get the sense that Trump is the attack dog and Biden is kind of the policy wonk and the hesitant old guy that you saw standing behind that microphone,” Mr. Sesno said.
Spokespeople for Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden’s campaigns did not immediately respond to requests for comment on CNN’s format and the hosts’ performance.
Mr. Trump largely refrained from speaking to Mr. Biden, showing a restraint that eluded him during the first candidates’ debate in 2020.
The debate format helped “save Trump from some of his worst impulses,” said David Greenberg, a professor of history and journalism and media studies at Rutgers University, and may have helped the Republican candidate appeal to voters who have been turned off by his interruptions in previous debates.
“Debate producers often forget that viewers primarily want to hear what the candidates have to say,” said Jon Klein, co-founder of Hang Media and former president of CNN US. “They don’t want to watch a fight or a performance “. The “mute” button was very useful.
Experts approved of CNN’s decision not to ask moderators to fact-check candidates during the debate, but to provide fact-checking on its websites and after the debate.
“There were a ton of inaccuracies that were left hanging, but it would have been a real waste to fact-check in real time,” Sesno said.
It does not capture the scale of the online audience, which has grown in popularity as traditional television audiences have declined.
CNN provided a feed of its production to other networks and other digital media outlets, asking them to use CNN in the program title and to keep the CNN logo on screen for the duration of the debate .
Viewership figures for the debate could increase when Nielsen releases final data later Friday. It reflects viewers of several channels, including CNN, Fox News and MSNBC.
The next Biden-Trump debate is scheduled for September 10 and will be hosted by ABC News.
