Breaking: @JoeBiden's town hall on ABC averaged 13.9 million viewers. @realDonaldTrump's town hall across NBC, MSNBC and CNBC had a combined 13.0 million viewers. Biden won the head-to-head ratings race. Here's my full story: https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/16/media/town-hall-ratings-biden-trump/index.html

This is a result virtually no one in the TV biz expected. Staffers at ABC News privately admitted to their surprise when the Nielsen #'s came in. https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/16/media/town-hall-ratings-biden-trump/index.html

In all of my TV hits about the dueling town halls, I said some things matter more than ratings. Like VOTES. But Trump is a Nielsen connoisseur. His campaign predicted that his town hall would out-rate Biden. So it's notable that he did not. I'm on with @brikeilarcnn with analysis