Disney has announced that this week’s ABC News Presidential Debate Is ABC’s Most-Viewed Non-Sports Multiplatform Program of the Year, pulling in 26.4 million views to date across linear channels and on streaming platforms, including Disney+ and Hulu.

The debate pulled in 19 million viewers on the ABC channel. It was the most watched debate on any network in the past 16 years and was ranked number one among broadcast and cable across the board.

It was also revealed that in the early reporting of viewing numbers, the debate was watched by 7.4 million viewers on streaming and digital platforms, including Hulu, Disney+ and ABC Owned Television Stations.  Additional streaming numbers will be available later in the week.

It was also the most-viewed live event by hours streamed on Disney+ in the United States to date.

Disney also released some other facts about the show’s performance.

• ABC News’ “Kamala Harris and Donald Trump – ABC News Presidential Debate” ranked No. 1 among the broadcast and cable networks across all key demos in Total Viewers (19.049 million), Adults 25-54 (6.596 million) and Adults 18-49 (5.663 million), marking the most-watched network debate in at least 16 years – since 2008.
• In combined impressions, ABC’s top six OTV stations more than doubled the performances of its No. 2 competitor in Total Viewers (4,549,000; +151% vs. No. 2 Fox News) and Adults 25-54 (1,563,000; +127% vs. No. 2 NBC).
• Further, ABC’s top six OTV stations outperformed the combined performance of its next two competitors in Total Viewers by 25% (vs. Fox News Channel and MSNBC) and the next three closest networks combined in Adults 25-54 by 3% (vs. NBC, CNN and Fox News Channel).
• Among the pre-debate programming, ABC’s “Race for the White House” (8:00-9:00 p.m.) ranked No. 1 in Total Viewers (7.587 million), leading Fox News Channel’s “Fox News Democracy” by +32% (5.731 million – 8:20 – 9:00 p.m.) and NBC’s “NBC News Presidential Debate Countdown” by 76% (4.322 million – 8:00-9:01 p.m.).
• · Among the post-debate programming, ABC’s “Post Debate Analysis” (10:45-11:04 p.m.) ranked No. 1 in Total Viewers (13.622 million), outperforming Fox News Channel’s “ABC Presidential Debate/Analysis” by +62% (8.412 million- 10:45 – 11:00 p.m.) and NBC’s “NBC News Presidential Debate Countdown” by 89% (7.221 million – 10:40-11:00 p.m.).

Roger’s Take:  Disney knew this event was going to pull in lots of viewers, so it made sure they had it available on as many platforms as possible. It also highlights how the addition of live news coverage into Disney+ is going to become an essential differenial from other platforms like Amazon and Netflix.  Sports and News are the main two areas that live television is able to pull in viewers and the success of the debate on Disney+ shows this move worked. 

While many people won’t connect watching news on Disney+, especially since it only launched the ABC News Live channel in the United States earlier this month, hopefully, we start to see more of this coverage in the future, to offer more variety to Disney+ subscribers.

Did you watch the “Kamala Harris and Donald Trump – ABC News Presidential Debate” on Disney+?  Let me know on social media!

Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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