Local 4's Michigan gubernatorial debate garners high ratings

112,600 Metro Detroit households tuned in

Schuette and Whitmer shake hands at the conclusion of a gubernatorial debate held in Detroit. (WDIV)

DETROIT – Candidates for Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer and Bill Schuette took the stage Wednesday night for the final gubernatorial debate before Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 6.

WDIV-Local 4 held the debate and according to early Nielsen ratings many tuned in to watch.

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The debate delivered a HH rating of 6.2, which nearly tied the 6.3 rating of Game 2 of the World Series on Fox 2 Detroit, according to Nielsen.

It was moderated by WDIV-Local 4 anchors Devin Scillian and Kimberly Gill. The broadcast was simulcast statewide on television and radio, plus nationwide on C-SPAN.

WATCH: Whitmer, Schuette face off in Michigan's governor's race debate

The debate had 3,600 livestream views across all digital platforms. This added to the 109,000 (6.2 HH) TV households means 112,600 Detroit DMA households watched the hour-long debate.  

“Through our polling and being part of the community, we know that we are seeing historic motivation to vote in this election. We set out to bring meaningful debates, polling, voter engagement and digital election content to our region,” said Marla Drutz, Vice President and General Manager.

The livestream of the debate and the post-debate wrap-up on Facebook garnered 40,000 views and 2,400 comments. 


About the Author

Kayla is a Web Producer for ClickOnDetroit. Before she joined the team in 2018 she worked at WILX in Lansing as a digital producer.

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