The presidential debates have come under recent criticism, in part because they’re not really debates but mostly because they don’t really change the minds of any voters. Rather, they tend to galvanize the decisions most voters already have made.

That’s a sobering thought especially when you consider the most recent Democratic debate.

Perhaps you missed it. You’re not alone if you did. It aired at 9 p.m. on Sunday.

Host network NBC said 10.2 million viewers watched live. Nielson ratings said it was closer to 8.72 million.

By comparison, the NFL playoff game between the Steelers and Denver Broncos, which began at 4:40 p.m. on CBS, drew more than 40 million. More than 20 million stayed with CBS to watch 60 Minutes, and 11.34 million stayed for CBS’s “Madam Secretary.”

It’s ironic that “Madam Secretary” is a political drama series loosely based on the escapades of former secretary of State and current Democratic presidential contender Hillary Rodham Clinton. In other words, more people watched the highly stylized, uber-scripted version of Clinton than the actual Clinton.

Some critics have said Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz scheduled the debates in time slots that would guarantee lower viewership, assuming fewer voters could be drawn away by rivals of Clinton, who was the clear front-runner when the debates were being planned. Officially the DNC says its neutral.

Her front-runner status is not so clear now. Vermont socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders has a slight polling lead in Iowa, whose voters caucus on Feb. 1. Sanders is polling 27 points ahead of Clinton in New Hampshire with its primary Feb. 9.

Consider that Sunday’s debate fell on a three-day holiday weekend, following NFL playoffs. The debate before that one fell on the last Saturday night before Christmas and the day after the release of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” And before that, the Democrats debated on Nov. 14, a Saturday.

The Republicans debated on week nights in prime time.

Wasserman Schultz has defended the schedule, saying, “I did my best to make sure, along with my staff and along with our debate partners, to come up with a schedule that we felt was going ... to maximize the opportunity for voters to see our candidates.”

Seriously? It seems odd for a party chair to schedule her favorite candidate against the Hollywood version of her favorite candidate — especially when you consider which “Madame Secretary” won that ratings contest, and that both versions lost to the NFL.