Generally, media coverage of the debates by the big three networks has fallen since the Carter-Ford debates in 1976. However, transcripts of the nightly news broadcasts shows that coverage rose significantly in 1992, when three candidates were vying for the presidency.
All data reflects coverage on the evening news broadcasts of the respective networks, on the first Friday of October. Data is given in minutes and seconds. The number of stories covered is reflected in the number of times shown. For example, the first entry states that ABC's evening news broadcast, on the first Friday of October, featured three campaign stories, of 3:10, 2:20 and 4:30, for a total of 10 minutes of coverage
ABC
76 3:10 2:20 4:30 10:00
80 5:50 0:20 06:10
84 4:20 6:30 10:50
88 5:40 2:30 4:50 13:00
92 4:40 2:40 1:00 07:40
96 5:00 05:00
CBS
76 7:50 3:50 11:40
80 3:20 2:30 05:50
84 3:20 03:20
88 4:10 04:10
92 3:30 2:50 4:40 11:00
96 3:40 03:40
NBC
76 4:10 2:00 0:20 06:30
80 4:50 04:50
84 6:20 06:20
88 5:20 05:20
92 2:00 2:40 04:40
96 0:40 0:40 01:20
