That’s counting three additional TV channels, out-of-home viewing and connected TVs
Tuesday’s cable news numbers are in, and now we know just how “yuge” the Biden-Trump debate ratings declined from 2016’s first Trump-Clinton faceoff.
From 9 p.m. ET to 11 p.m. ET, a 16-channel simulcast reached 73.1 million total viewers, according to Nielsen. In a first for a presidential debate, that tally counts connected TVs and out-of-home viewing.

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Between 9:03 p.m. ET-10:38 p.m. ET, Fox News Channel averaged 17.8 million viewers. Broadcast network ABC ranked second with 12.6 million viewers, followed by NBC with 9.6 million viewers and CNN with 8.2 million viewers. MSNBC came in fifth among the seven main channels with 7.1 million viewers, while CBS and Fox broadcast trailed with 6.3 million and 5.4 million viewers, respectively.
In the key 25-54 demographic for that same timeframe, FNC also ranked No. 1 with 5.3 million viewers, followed by ABC with 4.8 million viewers and NBC with 4.1 million viewers. CNN came in fourth with 3.5 million viewers in the key demo, Fox broadcast came in fifth with 2.4 million, CBS came in sixth with 2.1 million and MSNBC trailed in seventh with 1.7 million.
Fox News, which hosted the debate, said there were 9.7 million total video streams across Fox News digital properties, Facebook and YouTube.
Find the earlier-available Nielsen ratings for the broadcast TV channels here. Those preliminary numbers had not been adjusted for time differences.
Also Read: Trump Denies Knowing Who Proud Boys Are Despite Telling Hate Group to 'Stand By' at Debate
Back in September 2016, Trump-Clinton 1 nabbed a record 84 million overall audience members combined across 13 networks, including: NBC (18.2 million), ABC (13.5 million), CBS (12.1 million), Fox (5.3 million), Univision (2.5 million), Telemundo (1.8 million), Fox News (11.4 million), CNN (9.8 million), MSNBC (4.9 million), PBS (3 million), Fox Business Network (673,000) and CNBC (520,000).
The first Trump-Clinton debate broke the previous Nielsen record for a presidential debate, which was set in 1980 when Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan drew 80.6 million total viewers.
Here is a list of all pre-2016 televised debates ranked by their Nielsen numbers, including that previous high-water mark from 36 years ago. There were far fewer TVs back in 1980 and a smaller U.S. population, but also less competition and fewer means of viewing.
Also Read: Biden-Trump Debate Broadcast Ratings Drop Sharply From 2016
The Tuesday night matchup between the two candidates, filled by frequent interruptions by Trump and bickering, was roundly criticized by several anchors and pundits as one of the most chaotic presidential debates in history.
Here is a list of networks from Tuesday’s simulcast: ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, Telemundo, Univision, PBS, CNN, CNN en Español, Fox Business Network, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, Newsmax, Newsy, Vice and WGNA.
And from Clinton-Trump 1 in 2016: ABC, CBS, Fox, Univision, NBC, Telemundo, Azteca América, PBS, CNBC, CNN, Fox Business Network, Fox News Channel and MSNBC.
Alec Baldwin and 12 Other Actors Who've Played Donald Trump on Screen (Photos)
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NBC
Phil Hartman, "Saturday Night Live" (1988-1990)
Long before Alec Baldwin donned a blond wig, the late Phil Hartman played Donald Trump in a series of sketches. The first mocked Donald and Ivana Trump (Jan Hooks) as out-of-touch rich people at Christmas-time, while later skits depicted the couple's tabloid divorce.
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NBC
Darrell Hammond, "Saturday Night Live" (1999-2011)
Before Baldwin, Hammond was the go-to impersonator of Trump, starting with two sketches in 1989 and then off and on in multiple sketches over the next decade. He even returned to don a too-long red tie when Trump was guest host in 2015.
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Apollo Media
Louis Ferreira, "Trump Unauthorized" (2005)
The Portugese-born actor -- best known for his work on TV series like "Stargate Universe," "Breaking Bad" and "S.W.A.T." -- starred as the real estate mogul-turned reality star in a 2005 ABC movie.
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NBC
Jason Sudeikis, "Saturday Night Live" (2012)
In a cold open parody of "Fox & Friends," Sudeikis channeled Trump criticizing President Barack Obama's handling of Hurricane Sandy. Ironically, he also played Joe Biden during the first years of the Trump administration.
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NBC
Taran Killam, "Saturday Night Live" (2015)
After Trump announced his bid for the White House, Taran Killam grimaced his way through sketches as the (then) long-shot candidate in a series of episodes through the early months of the 2016 campaign.
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Funny or Die
Johnny Depp, "#FODTrumpMovie: Introducing Ivana" (2016)
The heavily made-up "Pirates of the Caribbean" star played an '80s-era Trump (opposite Micheala Watkins' Ivana) in a "found" video posted by Funny or Die in February 2016.
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NBC
Alec Baldwin, "Saturday Night Live" (2016-)
The former "30 Rock" star began playing Trump in October 2016 just one month before the mogul's surprise election victory -- and he has continued to lampoon the president throughout his presidency, often in the cold open that kicks off the show.
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Comedy Central
Bob DiBuono, "The Nightly Show Larry Wilmore Show" (2016)
Comedian Bob DiBuono has emerged as one of the leading Trump impersonators, appearing regularly on Larry Willmore's Comedy Central show as well as "Murphy Brown" and "The View."
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NBC
Jimmy Fallon, "The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon" (2016-)
"SNL" alum Jimmy Fallon received far less favorable reviews for his own Trump impression on "The Tonight Show" -- as well as infamous hair-mussing of the then-candidate in a 2016 pre-election appearance.
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Comedy Central
Anthony Atamanuik, "The President Show" (2017-18)
Atamanuik won over critics with his Trump impression: "superior to (Alec) Baldwin’s in a handful of ways -- chiefly the hands, which he uses to punch the air while simultaneously reaching for a word that won’t quite come," Newsday critic Verne Gay wrote). But the series lasted only two seasons.
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Photo: Ben Mark Holzberg
Brendan Gleeson, "The Comey Rule" (2020)
In Showtime's miniseries about the standoff between Trump and former FBI director James Comey, Irish actor Brendan Gleeson plays the Commander in Chief. "Gleeson kicks the program to life," New York Times critic James Poniewozik wrote. "His rendering of Trump’s wandering diction is the best I’ve seen outside a lip-sync. Half his performance is in his bearing, chin jutted forward like the prow of a swollen yacht."
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VMI Distribution
Jeff Rector, "Bad President" (2020)
In this satire, the comedian plays a Trump who is seduced by the Devil himself (Eddie Griffin) to run for president.
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Netflix
Sarah Cooper, "Everything's Fine" (2020)
In her first Netflix special, comedian Sarah Cooper reprised the bit that made her famous: lip-syncing to audio of Donald Trump speaking. In one sketch, she re-created the infamous "grab her by the p---y" recording with Helen Mirren playing "Access Hollywood" host Billy Bush.
Many actors have portrayed the real estate mogul turned outgoing Commander in Chief
Tony Maglio
TV Editor • tony.maglio@thewrap.com • Twitter: @tonymaglio
J. Clara Chan
Media and politics reporter • jclara.chan@thewrap.com • Twitter: @jclarachan