Viewership of the second presidential debate dropped by a lot

Way less people tuned in to watch Sunday's presidential debate compared to the first one on September 26, according to early ratings.

Variety reports that Nielsen's 56 metered markets show that Sunday's debate averaged a 37.2 household rating and 53 share. That's a 19% drop from the previous debate's 46.2 rating and 63 share overnight rating.

Among the major networks that aired the debate, CBS was the most-watched, followed by ABC, then Fox. NBC opted to air its regular football programming.

These numbers represent about 70% of US households, but doesn't include markets that were affected by Hurricane Matthew, including Jacksonville, Florida; Orlando, Florida; Norfolk, Virginia; and Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina.

There will be some adjustment when final numbers are released later on Monday, including total viewers. The first debate was watched by a record 84 million viewers.