100 million viewers: US Presidential election debate between Trump & Clinton to be the most viewed in history

Monday, September 26, 2016

The U.S Presidential election debate that will hold tonight between candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will be the most viewed presidential debate in history with some commentators forecasting Super Bowl-sized viewership of around 100 million Americans.

The debate will be live, unscripted and unpredictable and is expected to break the record TV audience of 80 million for the 1980 Presidential debate between Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan.

 

The predicted high viewing figures is as a result of the the extraordinary nature of the campaign, featuring Donald Trump, the outspoken Billionaire businessman and former reality TV star, competing for the White House with Hillary Clinton, the former U.S. secretary of state and first woman to run for the White House.

"My prediction is a 100 million audience, and maybe more," said Paul Levinson, a communications professor at New York's Fordham University and author of "McLuhan in an Age of Social Media."

"The Super Bowl shows that when there is something that is really special, something that can command people's interest, something you want to see on a big screen, television has this enormous power and reach," Levinson said.

 Source: CNN