Early Ratings Show Huge Increase for VP Debate

It looks like last night's VP debate will be a ratings winner:

In the very preliminary ratings returns, Thursday's debate between Alaska governor Sarah Palin and Delaware senator Joe Biden is looking like strong performer.

The four broadcast networks airing last night's debate totaled a 28.1 overnight meter-market household rating.

That's 33% higher than last week's morning-after returns for Friday's presidential debate, which scored a collective 21.4 rating among the major networks.

These are early numbers and subject to change. Due to a Nielsen processing delay, they do not include six major markets, including Los Angeles (which was low for Friday's debate and could drag down the average), as well as Miami, Houston, San Diego, Denver and Las Vegas. Making a firm judgment at this point about the debate's popularity is a bit like calling the presidency on election night with Florida and Ohio still unreported. Still, things look positive, with cable network sources reporting that their early numbers show gains from Friday too. In a few hours we'll have more clarity as Nielsen will announce an official household rating that includes broadcast and cable networks for the 56 major markets. Later, we'll have total viewers and demos.

I'll update this post later when more complete numbers come in.

The Debate Commission made a huge mistake by scheduling the first presidential debate on a Friday night in the Fall. I, along with millions of other Americans, was attending a high school football game that night. It was not a smart move by the Commission and I think we'll see higher ratings in the upcoming two debates.

UPDATE: The ratings were even better than first thought:

UPDATED: Thursday's debate between Alaska governor Sarah Palin and Delaware senator Joe Biden proved prognosticators correct and scored extremely high viewership.

Last night's debate totaled a 45.0 overnight meter-market household rating, according to Nielsen

That's 42% higher than Friday's presidential debate between John McCain and Barack Obama, which scored a collective 31.6 rating among the broadcast and cable networks.

It's also a stunning 60% higher than the 2004 debate between Dick Cheney and John Edwards. In fact, the figure surpasses any presidential debate since 1992's second bout between Bill Clinton, Ross Perot and George Bush.

The ratings will likely decrease slightly when Nielsen releases total national viewers later today. If it stays above 43.6, it will mean Thursday night was the highest-rated vp debate in TV history, surpassing 1984's most-watched record holder between George Bush and Geraldine Ferrarro.