Early ratings: Debate may have been the most-watched in history; Update: Confirmed, more than 80 million watched

But the data indicates that Monday’s face-off may well have been the most-watched debate in American history.

CNN and other cable news channels saw big increases over past election years. So did some of the broadcast networks.

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The early Nielsen data confirms that viewership stayed high the entire time. Contrary to some speculation, there was not a big drop-off after the first hour of the 98-minute debate.

The event was carried on more than a dozen TV channels, some big and some small.

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