An NR-reading friend who works in Indianapolis media writes in to Campaign Spot, reacting to the overnight data for local television’s debate coverage.

He says that the viewership for local affiliates of CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX, and PBS in the Indianapolis market reached about 350,000 households, “much bigger than any night of the conventions.” He explains that that adds up to about 32 rating points, or the equivalent of one-third of all homes in the area. “That’s slightly more than what a typical Indianapolis Colts NFL game does here. And that’s before the cable numbers are in, which probably add another 10 to 20 rating points.”

He concludes, “Unless Indianapolis was an anomaly last night, this debate was a huge event and probably exceeded the 40–50 million figure pundits had been predicting.”

Other ratings data will be released shortly, around 11 a.m. eastern.

UPDATE: He writes that new numbers indicate another another 12 ratings points from cable, “so that means almost half of all homes — about 46 percent — watched the debate the Indianapolis (Designated Market Area).”