Television, audiences, and electoral debates: Towards multiscreen viewing

In the current media ecosystem, one of the main pillars of political party communication campaigns is focused on the appearance of political leaders on television. The presence and exposure of political candidates in this medium, across different informative formats, from entertainment to infotainment, draws the attention of a considerable section of citizens beyond the electoral campaign. The electoral debates are one of the most hegemonic television formats relating to politics, that brings together a large number of spectators. The interest of the Spanish audience in this type of format, without a historical tradition in Spain, has been remarkable to watch during the last twenty-six years of broadcasting. The evolution of the audience for these programs confirms a high level of interest by Spanish spectators and has reached historically high ratings for the networks broadcasting them, which is one of the quantitative indicators unanimously accepted as a standard in the study on audiences. However, the incorporation of new screens and channels into the electoral debates has widened the mainstream viewing scenario. The current multiscreen television experience and audience participation across platforms, such as social networks, represent a challenge for the communication strategies of political parties and television networks, as well as for measurement of this new audience, which is significantly more active, while also generating more content.