Debate viewership falls from last week's town hall

Nearly 60 million people watched Wednesday night's third and final presidential debate, more than the audience for the first, but fewer people than for the second debate.

Nielsen Media Research reported today that 56.5 million viewers saw the debate on the major broadcast and cable networks. PBS, which tallies its numbers separately, estimated its audience at 3 million.

The combined viewerships were about 55 million for the first debate Sept. 26, a Friday when TV audiences are typically lower, and 66 million for the town hall on Oct. 7.

Nielsen said the ratings for Wednesday night were "affected to some degree" by game five of the National League Championship Series between Philadelphia and Los Angeles, which drew about 8 million viewers on Fox, which showed the prior two debates.

All the presidential debates this year took a back seat, however, to the one and only vice presidential face-off, which drew the second-largest debate audience ever, about 70 million.