NFL Beats Presidential Debate In 24 Markets

NFL games drew higher ratings than the second presidential debate in 24 of the 27 markets for which ratings were available.
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The debate between the VP candidates for the Elephants and Donkeys may have grabbed the biggest aggregated audience last week, but the showdowns between Bears and Lions and other NFL teams were the most-watched programs on individual stations in 24 of the 27 NFL markets for which ratings were available.

That's according to the NFL.

In the only three markets where football was not the top-rated program (excluding the market-wide audience for the top-rated program), it was either because the team did not play or it was a Monday night game), which falls into the next ratings week.

The only market where the debate was the top-rated program on any single station was in St. Louis, where the Rams had a bye.

The top-rated NFL market was Pittsburgh (Steelers vs. Ravens), where the household rating was 48.1. That even beats the local market rating average for the debate, which was a 45.

Nationally, again excluding the debate audience across all networks, the top-rated program of the week was the Bengals-Cowboys game on CBS Oct.5.

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