NATIONWIDE — In early ratings numbers, former Vice President Joe Biden's town hall on ABC outdrew President Donald Trump's town hall on NBC, though those numbers will likely change once cable figures are reported.

What You Need To Know

  • In early ratings, Biden's town hall on ABC drew more viewers than Trump's town hall on NBC, according to Nielsen

  • Biden's town hall on ABC drew 13.9 million viewers to Trump's 10.6 million on NBC

  • Biden still bested Trump when NBC's cable networks were factored in; 1.74 million viewers tuned in to watch Trump on MSNBC, with an added 671,000 viewers from CNBC

  • While both town hall events drew sizeable numbers, they will likely pale in comparison to the first debate between Trump and Biden, which drew over 73 million viewers

According to Nielsen, Biden's town hall event with George Stephanopoulos drew 13.9 million total viewers over two hours, while Trump's event with Savannah Guthrie drew 10.6 million in the same time slot. In their shared hour from 8–9 p.m. EDT, ABC's event drew 12.71 million viewers.

On MSNBC, 1.74 million viewers tuned in to watch Trump, with an added 671,000 viewers from CNBC, according to CNN's Brian Stelter. Trump's gross was about 13 million, still about one million shy of Biden's total viewership on ABC.

NBC's decision to host Trump in a town hall that competed directly with Biden's town hall on ABC drew a tremendous amount of criticism online, including a call on social media to boycott the network.

A letter signed by 100 top showrunners, producers, writers, actors, and other stars condemned the decision to air the Trump town hall at the same time as Biden's, citing the fact that Americans should have the ability to watch both events.

"This is not a partisan issue. This is about the political health of our democracy," the letter, which was signed by the likes of Ava DuVernay, Ben Stiller, JJ Abrams, Amy Schumer, Aaron Sorkin, Julianne Moore, Milo Ventimiglia, Patton Oswalt, Alison Janney, Sterling K. Brown, Dan Levy, Seth Rogen, Donald Faison, and Zoe Lister-Jones, read.

"President Trump refused to participate in the virtual debate scheduled for Thursday night by the Presidential Debate Commission. By agreeing to air his town hall as counterprogramming opposite Vice President Biden’s town hall on ABC, you are enabling the President’s bad behavior while undercutting the Presidential Debate Commission and doing a disservice to the American public," the letter continued. "We believe this kind of indifference to the norms and rules of our democracy are what have brought our country to this perilous state."

Beyond cable numbers, also remains to be seen how online streaming numbers factor in. Both networks have streaming news networks and broadcast on multiple platforms, including Facebook and YouTube.

On YouTube, it appears Biden may have won out as well. At the end of Trump's town hall, the NBC News YouTube channel showed 153,660 viewers, compared to 507,445 viewers on the ABC News YouTube channel at the end of Biden's town hall. 

While both town hall events drew sizeable numbers, they will likely pale in comparison to the viewership a second presidential debate would have garnered.

The first debate drew over 73 million viewers, the second most-watched presidential debate ever; 84 million tuned in to the first debate between then-candidate Trump and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.