• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, September 22, 2008

Based on interest in the recent political conventions, this Friday's debate will easily be the most-watched presidential faceoff ever. By how much is anyone's guess.

 

Nielsen reported last week that 65% of U.S. homes and 120 million people tuned in to at least one of the conventions.

Those homes did have seven days to tune in, and could have done so for just six minutes. (Due to the hurricane, the GOP event was only three days.)

However, the figures are undoubtedly an indicator of how engaged Americans are in the campaign. Watching Barack Obama and John McCain go head-to-head this Friday on domestic policy--especially with the economy in trouble--would seem to be a bigger draw than speeches delivered to adoring crowds.

The Nielsen figures also hinted that the election may prove to be extremely close. McCain's and Obama's acceptance speeches each drew 29% of U.S. homes.

The story was different when it came to the vice presidential candidates' acceptance speeches. The curiosity surrounding Republican Sarah Palin helped bring in the same 29% of homes as McCain. Democrat Joe Biden attracted only 17%.

Beyond the curiosity factor, there was the verbosity factor. Nielsen reported that Palin's 39-minute speech may have helped her build tune-in. Biden--sometimes labeled as long-winded--spoke for 23 minutes.

The Nielsen data showed that 15% of U.S. households watched only the Republican convention, and 16% just the Democrats. Some 34% watched both.

Nielsen reported that 23% of households who solely watched the Republicans had household incomes of $100,000-plus, compared to 14% who watched only the Democrats.

Some 21% of homes watching just the Democrats had a head of the household who was African-American, compared to 7% who viewed solely the GOP.

While there has been some talk that Democrats appeal to younger voters, 22% of homes watching only the Democrats had a head of the household under 35, compared to 20% for GOP-only viewers.