The first presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump attracted an estimated 67.1 million viewers across 17 television networks, as reported by Nielsen data. The debate took place on Tuesday in Philadelphia and was hosted by ABC News, airing across 17 television networks. This viewership easily surpassed the 51 million viewers who tuned in to the June debate between Trump and President Joe Biden.
Although Tuesday's debate drew the largest television audience of the year, it marked a decrease in total viewership compared to 2020 when over 73 million people watched the first debate between Trump and Biden across all television networks. In 2016, a record-breaking 84 million viewers tuned in to the first debate between Hillary Clinton and Trump.
It is important to note that viewership habits have significantly changed since 2016, and Nielsen's data does not include the various streaming and social media platforms that many viewers used to watch Tuesday's debate. While fewer Americans watched the debate on television compared to previous election years, millions more watched it on digital platforms.
ABC emerged as the network with the highest viewership, attracting over 19 million viewers. NBC followed with more than 10 million viewers, and Fox News garnered more than 9 million viewers.
