4:34pm

Tue October 23, 2012
The Two-Way

59.2 Million Tuned Into Monday's Debate, Smallest Of The Audiences

Originally published on Wed October 24, 2012 11:52 am

Credit Timothy A. Clary / AFP/Getty Images
Watch the wash or watch the debate? This woman was at a laundromat in Manhattan during Monday's debate.

An estimated 59.2 million people tuned in Monday night to watch President Obama and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in their third and final debate before the Nov. 6 election, The Nielsen Company reports.

That compares with 67.2 million viewers for the candidates' Oct. 3 faceoff and 65.6 for the debate on Oct. 16.

Nielsen notes that Monday's debate "was up against two sporting events — Monday Night Football on ESPN, which had 10.7 million people tuning in and Game 7 of [baseball's National League championship series] on FOX, which had 8.1 million people watching."

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