It’s been 47 months and four days since we’ve last witnessed a presidential debate — and Monday’s kickoff to the three primetime events can’t come fast enough for cable news networks.
Back on Oct. 22, 2012 — the last one — Barack Obama and Mitt Romney went toe-to-toe to the tune(-in) of 59.2 million total viewers. That’s a ton of eyeballs, but it was actually the lowest-rated of their three go-arounds. Expect Donald Trump-Hillary Clinton to put that figure to shame right away, boosted by the unusually high potential trainwreck factor.
Four years ago, the debates were simulcast on the most networks ever — this year won’t be any different, though a greater abundance of livestreams should impact linear numbers, making 2016 murkier than previous campaigns.