While Nielsen ratings were down for Sunday's (Oct. 9) presidential debate from the first debate, live streaming made up for at least some of the slack, according to online analytics company Hitwise, a division of Connexity.

For example, it said, YouTube had a 40% increase in debate content views from the first debate, and Twitter reported a 30% increase in traffic to its live stream vs. the Sept. 26 debate.

Related: Pro Football Trumps Presidential Debate Coverage on Cable

At least 20,000 people in the U.S. searched for where and how to stream the debate, Hitwise said, with the majority skewing young, male, educated and Hispanic. Supporters of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton were 34% more likely to have searched for the stream than supporters of the GOP's Donald Trump.

Read more about the 2016 presidential campaign.