In 2002, ‘American style’ televised debates were held for the first time in Germany and reached a very large part of the electorate: About two-thirds of German voters watched at least one debate. Among the most important factors explaining debate exposure are party identification, political interest and campaign interest. In terms of results, the first debate ended with a draw, while Chancellor Schröder was (clearly) ahead in the second one. In terms of content, the chancellor had advantages on Iraq; Stoiber scored with his economic positions. In terms of effects, debate exposure as well as the evaluations of the candidates' debate performances did affect voters' behaviour: Following the debates led to higher turnout, and the perception that a candidate had won the debates increased the probability of voting for him. The largest debate effects occurred for voters without party identification. Overall, televised debates are an important factor that can – especially given the closeness of the last election – influence the outcome of an election.
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Faas et al. (2004) studied this question.