Trump vs Biden debate pulled in 73 million TV viewers - lower than Hillary Clinton debate four years ago

Tuesday’s event was most watched US programme since 2019’s Super Bowl

The first 2020 US presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump pulled in at least 73 million viewers on Tuesday evening.

According to Nielsen, 73.1 million people tuned into 16 different channels to watch the first debate, although streaming numbers are still pending.

The viewership for the first of the three planned debates before 3 November's election was lower than the first clash between Hillary Clinton and Mr Trump in 2016, according to the BBC.

The first debate in 2016 recorded 84 million viewers, which beat the previous record set in 1980 when Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter attracted 80.6 million US watchers.

However, Tuesday’s event was the most watched US programme since the Super Bowl last February, and had more viewers than any of the debates in 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, and the last two in 2016, according to CNN.

President Trump responded to Nielsen’s preliminary results on Wednesday evening, and falsely claimed the debate had broken television viewership records.

He tweeted: “HIGHEST CABLE TELEVISION RATINGS OF ALL TIME. SECOND HIGHEST OVERALL TELEVISION RATINGS OF ALL TIME.

“Some day these Fake Media Companies are going to miss me, very badly!!!”

The streaming numbers for the debate have not yet been released, but the BBC reported that viewership combined from just the Wall Street Journal, Fox News, CBS and ABC streams reached at least 20 million people.

On Wednesday, the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) announced that it will consider changing the format of the remaining two debates, after Tuesday’s chaotic event was widely criticised.

During Tuesday’s presidential debate, Mr Trump repeatedly spoke over Mr Biden and avoided answering questions posed by the moderator, Fox News host Chris Wallace.

At one point, the former vice president told Mr Trump: “Will you shut up, man? This is so unpresidential,” after he interrupted him, and Wallace had to regularly shout in order to keep the conversation moving.

On Wednesday, the commission, which sponsors televised debates in the US, released a statement, which read: “Last night’s debate made clear that additional structure should be added to the format of the remaining debates to ensure a more orderly discussion of the issues.

“The CPD will be carefully considering the changes that it will adopt and will announce those measures shortly.”

The organisation added: “The Commission is grateful to Chris Wallace for the professionalism and skill he brought to last night’s debate and intends to ensure that additional tools to maintain order are in place for the remaining debates.”

The commission has not announced the changes it plans to make, but CBS News reported that it will push to be able to cut the sound of a microphone if a candidate speaks when it is not their turn.

The second presidential debate is scheduled to take place on 15 October in Miami with C-SPAN's Steve Scully moderating.