Although there was high interest in Friday night’s debate, the numbers were lower than expected. The political event - still the most-watched program of the night - drew a smaller crowd than the Kerry/Bush meeting in 2004.

8pm

• A repeat of The Mentalist* (7.8 million, 1.9/6 in 18-49) topped the first-run programs in its hour.
• 20/20 (6.6 million, 1.7/6) picked up 900,000 since last week.
• Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? (5.1 million, 1.4/5) slipped by 800,000.
• America’s Toughest Jobs (4.6 million, 1.3/5) added on 1.3 million.
• Friday Night Smackdown (4.2 million, 1.4/5) was down 200,000.

9pm

• ABC‘s coverage of the debate (3.2/9 in 18-49) pulled in 10.2 million.
• McCain and Obama attracted 7.8 million (2.4/7) for NBC.
• CBS (2.1/6) had 7.4 million watching its live feed.
• FOX (1.4/4) registered 4.1 million for its political coverage.

10pm

• ABC’s post-debate analysis (2.7/8 in18-49)) had 8.7 million talking.
• Approximately 6.6 million dissected the debate with NBC (2.2/6).
• CBS’ review of the event raked in 6.4 million (1.9/5).

*denotes repeat

(You can review last Friday’s ratings here.)