RATINGS: The CNN/YouTube Presidental Debate

CNN’s attempt to shake up the presidential debates by opening the floor to questions from YouTube users didn’t exactly turn the debates into must-see TV. 


Monday night’s debate, during which Democratic presidential contenders answered video question posted on the video sharing site, was watched by 2.62 million viewers, according Nielsen data supplied by the network. 


That was less than the 2.78 million viewers who tuned in to the previous Democratic debate on CNN in June. But the YouTube debate did attract a larger percentage of 18-34 year old viewers (407,000) than any debate in cable news history.