First presidential debate: Brands unveil big-budget ads in lead up to biggest TV event of the year

100 million viewers are anticipated, which would be around the same number that watched the final episodes of MASH or Cheers

The unusual nature of Mr Trump as a candidate is luring viewers (Getty)

As many as 100 million viewers are anticipated to tune in to the first presidential debate on Monday evening - a rare feat in an age of social media and multiple news channels.

The New York Times/CBS News poll found that 83 per cent of registered voters will be very likely or somewhat likely to turn on their televisions around 9pm.

It will be the first time Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are on the same stage, answering questions and trying to sway voters in their favour.

The debate could achieve a bigger audience than the 80 million who were glued to their screens to watch Jimmy Carter square up to Ronald Reagan in 1980.

The 100 million could also be around the same number that watched the final episode of popular comedy series Cheers or MASH, as reported by the New York Times.

In comparison, a relatively small number of about 67 million people watched president Barack Obama debate Mitt Romney in 2012.

Although the debate will be shown uninterrupted for 90 minutes, the Super Bowl-esque size audience has attracted Super Bowl-esque advertisements, with companies spending millions of dollars before and after the debate.

They include Audi cars, whose advert shows a man and a woman hotel valet fighting to drive an Audi RS7 luxury car, with the slogan "Beautiful things are worth fighting for. Choose the next driver wisely".

Heineken’s Mexican Tecate beer advert will pan the desert along the Mexican border, and a action film-style voice saying: "The time has come for a wall - a tremendous wall."

The wall in question is a knee-high stack of beer cans to "bring people together".

For anyone not watching the debate, they might be tuning in Monday Night Football on ESPN, which is expected to be the largest competitor.

Will the president be one of the 100 million viewers?

"There will be millions of people across the country who are quite interested to see the two candidates onstage together for the first time," White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters.

"I imagine the president will be one of them."