From Nielsen:

The overall rating was 45.0 — much higher than the Obama/McCain debate, which had a rating of 31.6 The Baltimore market had the largest TV audience, with a household rating of 59.1 Los Angeles market had the lowest household rating: 34.4.National ratings for Thursday night’s debate will be available from Nielsen Friday afternoon, and if these numbers hold up, this could be one of the most-watched debates ever. To see the full list of 55 markets and more historical information on Presidential debates, please visit our blog at: http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/?p=1928

So the Angelenos had better things to do?

This is fascinating, though: The veep debate is overshadowing the presidential debate, and it isn’t because the world is waiting rapt to hear from the gentleman from Delaware.