TV ratings: Obama and Romney beat baseball Monday and 'Gossip Girl' up a little

Fast National ratings for Monday, Oct. 22, 2012

The final presidential debate between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama didn't draw quite as big an audience as the previous two, but it still drew about 30 million viewers on ABC, CBS and NBC. FOX didn't air the debate because of its National League Championship Series coverage, which scored its best ratings of the series with Game 7.

Elsewhere, "The Voice" and "Dancing With the Stars" led the pre-debate hour, and The CW's "Gossip Girl" got a bit of a boost without the usual competition -- though it still fell short of a million viewers.

Ratings for all of the big four networks will change some due to live coverage, and ABC's Detroit affiliate carried the "Monday Night Football" game. The fast national numbers are as follows: ABC led the way with 11.27 million viewers and a 7.2 rating/10 share in households, just clipping NBC's 11.24 million and 6.7/10. CBS (7.4 million, 4.9/7) came in third. FOX was fourth with 7.2 million viewers and a 4.3/6. The CW drew 927,000 people and a 0.7/1.

NBC posted a 4.0 rating among adults 18-49 to lead the demographic race. ABC finished second with a 2.6. CBS, 2.2, took third, just ahead of FOX's 2.1. The CW earned a 0.4.

Monday hour by hour:

8 p.m.

ABC: "Dancing With the Stars: All-Stars" (13.2 million viewers, 8.7/13)
NBC: "The Voice" (11.95 million, 7.0/10)
FOX: National League Championship Series Game 7 - Cardinals/Giants (9.6 million, 5.7/8)
CBS: "The Big Bang Theory" rerun (7.75 million, 5.1/8)/"2 Broke Girls" rerun (6.9 million, 4.5/6)
The CW: "90210" (950,000, 0.7/1)

18-49 leader: "The Voice" (4.2)

9 p.m.

NBC: Presidential debate (11.7 million, 7.0/10)
ABC: Presidential debate (11.2 million, 7.0/10)
CBS: Presidential debate (7.9 million, 5.2/7)
FOX: NLCS Game 7 (6.3 million, 3.9/5)
The CW: "Gossip Girl" (903,000, 0.7/1)

18-49 leader: NBC (4.3)

10 p.m.

NBC: Presidential debate (11.2 million, 6.7/10)/Debate analysis (8.9 million, 5.5/9)
ABC: Presidential debate (10.6 million, 6.7/10)/Debate analysis (8.15 million, 5.3/8)
CBS: Presidential debate (8.05 million, 5.3/8)/Debate analysis (6.2 million, 4.2/7)
FOX: NLCS Game 7 (5.5 million, 3.4/5)

18-49 leader: NBC (3.6)

Ratings information includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are preliminary and subject to change. Source: The Nielsen Company.

More ratings at Zap2it: Daily, weekly and cable