The final numbers are in and 65.6 million people watched the second presidential debate live on TV last night, according to Nielsen, as reported by TV Newser.

The second debate was down slightly from the first Presidential debate of the cycle, which drew 67.2 million viewers, and up significantly from last week’s VP debate, which drew 51.4 million. Compared to the second debate of 2008, the ratings are up by a few million viewers.

NBC won the overall ratings battle across broadcast and cable news; 13.81 million people watched the debate there. ABC was second in the broadcast race, with 12.46 million viewers. That beat CBS’ 8.92 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