Strong TV ratings for second Obama-Romney debate as voting nears

If the TV ratings are any indication, Americans are staying keenly interested in the White House race as election day draws near.

Tuesday night’s town-hall debate between President Obama and GOP challenger Mitt Romney drew a total of 65.6 million total viewers, according to Nielsen.

The figure was down only slightly from the 67.2 million who tuned in to the first face-off between the two candidates earlier this month. And it was higher than the 63.2 million who watched the second debate between Obama and Sen. John McCain four years ago.

NBC’s coverage was the most-watched among broadcasters (13.8 million), trailed by ABC (12.5 million) and CBS (8.9 million).

Among cable networks, Fox News Channel’s coverage scored especially high, with 11.1 million viewers, which matched its record numbers for the Joe Biden-Sarah Palin debate in 2008.

The numbers include coverage that aired live on 10 networks, as well as tape-delayed telecasts on Spanish-language networks Univision and Telemundo.

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Twitter: @scottcollinsLAT