Hillary Clinton-Donald Trump debate most-watched in U.S. history

If you watched the presidential debate between Republican candidate Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton on Monday, Sept. 26, you were in good company: It was the most-watched debate in U.S. history.

On television, anyway. According to Nielsen, 84 million people watched the debate across numerous channels. That was in homes, and doesn’t account for those watching in bars and restaurants (and airports, as I did). Nor does it count C-SPAN, whose numbers are not measured.

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And it doesn’t include those who watched online.

The record was 80.6 million viewers for the one debate between Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan in 1980, shortly before the election. The population of the U.S. has increased by nearly 100 million people since then, so that debate remains the most-watched in terms of percentages.

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The debate was a raucous affair, certainly, and the good news for the networks (and for the candidates, maybe) is that most people stayed with the 90-minute slugfest for the duration. Typically, there’s some drop-off, but not Monday night. But it didn’t top the 100-million viewer mark some were predicting.

In context, the most-viewed broadcast in history is Super Bowl XLIX (played at University of Phoenix Stadium between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks); 114.5 million people watched that. The Super Bowl accounts for 19 of the top 20 shows, with only the "M*A*S*H" finale, at No. 7, breaking form. It attracted 105.9 million viewers.

Reach Goodykoontz at bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. Twitter: twitter.com/goodyk.