More Koreans watched the Beijing Winter Olympics than the presidential debate on Friday evening.

According to Nielsen Korea, the Olympics' short track skating events aired on three terrestrial channels garnered combined viewer ratings in the 35 percent range.

The final of the women's one-thousand meter race, where Choi Min-jeong won silver, drew 35 percent and the men's five-thousand meter relay semifinals, in which Korea advanced to the final, scored 35-point-one percent in audience ratings.

Meanwhile, ratings for the second televised debate of four presidential candidates broadcast on six cable channels at a similar time were tallied at a combined 21-point-37 percent, much lower than the first debate's 39 percent.

The 1997 presidential election recorded the highest viewership for a TV debate, at 55-point-seven percent.