A weird thing happens when TV viewers have to choose between presidential debates and American Gladiators. They become more politically aware. Joseph Tirella crunches the numbers today over at Portfolio, demonstrating how crapass, writerless television offerings translated to record ratings for the debates. The CNN-aired debate between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, for example, the last before Super Tuesday, drew 8.3 million viewers. A typical night of WWE Raw draws 3 million people. Tirella adds:
"ABC pulled in 7.5 million viewers with the Republican debate that aired just before the January 8 New Hampshire primary and another 9.3 million who tuned in to the network's January 5 televised debate between the Democratic presidential hopefuls—roughly the same number that Lost, one of the most critically acclaimed shows in recent years, got with its January 31 season debut."