According to one CNN poll, viewers have not been swayed by the third debates. 25 percent still said they would vote for Romney, although he technically lost the last debates while 24 percent would vote for President Obama.
Moderator Bob Schieffer had the best review regarding his ability to referee the night, while a Rentrak research showed a drop in viewers. There are some conflicting numbers with how many viewers watched the first debate. The first debate there were 53.9 million viewers according to various news articles. However, Rentrak has clocked the first debate at 49.1 million. This number is still rather high. This first debate is what some are calling a “game changer” for the GOP, as President Obama was his weakest and Mitt Romney was his strongest.
The second debate dropped in viewers, as there were 48.0 million that watched the second debates and another drop in viewers for the final presidential debate at 44.8 viewers.
| MARKET | THIRD DEBATE | SECOND DEBATE | FIRST DEBATE |
| West Palm Beach, FL | 122 | 99 | 100 |
| Corpus Christi, TX | 113 | 104 | 100 |
| Dallas, TX | 107 | 99 | 100 |
| Memphis, TN | 106 | 103 | 100 |
| Reno, NV | 106 | 102 | 100 |
| Miami, FL | 106 | 99 | 101 |
| Great Falls, MT | 106 | 95 | 100 |
| Topeka, KS | 105 | 109 | 101 |
| Baton Rouge, LA | 105 | 105 | 101 |
| Greenville, NC | 105 | 103 | 102 |
| Lincoln, NE | 104 | 99 | 102 |
| Lansing, MI | 101 | 96 | 101 |
| Tulsa, OK | 100 | 101 | 101 |
| Boston, MA | 99 | 103 | 100 |
| Grand Rapids, MI | 99 | 91 | 100 |
| Johnstown, PA | 98 | 102 | 101 |
| Paducah, KY | 97 | 107 | 103 |
| Portland, ME | 97 | 105 | 100 |
| Washington DC | 97 | 100 | 101 |
| Augusta, GA | 96 | 101 | 103 |
| Sacramento, CA | 96 | 99 | 100 |
| Wausau, WI | 95 | 102 | 102 |
| Terre Haute, IN | 94 | 98 | 102 |
| Sioux Falls, SD | 93 | 101 | 100 |
| Wilkes Barre, PA | 93 | 98 | 100 |
| Traverse City, MI | 88 | 92 | 100 |
According to Rentrak:
"Rentrak’s television ratings measurement service provides daily measurement of all TV networks nationally and at a granular level for TV stations in all 210 media markets nationwide. The service incorporates information from over 20 million televisions and is the only fully integrated system of detailed satellite, telco and cable TV viewing data commercially available."
What does this all mean? Perhaps the first debate with the most viewers, might have set the tone for all three debates and helped most of America make up their minds regarding which presidential candidate they will be voting for. President Obama was further ahead until Romney set the tone in the first debate. There are conflicting polls out, some have Obama up by a slim margin including Zogby and Reuters. Gallup, Politico- George Washington University, Monmouth University, Rasmussen all have Romney up by a few points with likely voters. Which poll is correct? Well, we have two weeks to find out how close the Presidential election will be.
