Trump Debate Broke Ratings Records With 24 Million Viewers

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump responds to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's closing remarks during the first Republican presidential debate at the Quicken Loans Arena Thursday, Aug. 6, 2015, in Cl... Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump responds to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's closing remarks during the first Republican presidential debate at the Quicken Loans Arena Thursday, Aug. 6, 2015, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) MORE LESS
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Donald Trump loves to brag about the ratings “The Apprentice” brought NBC. Now he can also point to Thursday’s Fox News debate to highlight his appeal.

Nielsen data reveal that Thursday’s top-tier GOP debate, which kicked off the 2016 debate cycle, broke primary debate records, CNN reported.

Twenty four million people tuned into Fox News for the 9 pm debate, according to Nielsen’s calculations, and Nielsen estimates that 16 percent of American households with televisions watched Trump and his rivals duke it out.

In addition to being the most watched primary debate in television history, a Fox News spokeswoman told CNN that it was also the highest-rated telecast in the channel’s history.

Updated at 2:15 p.m.: This story has been updated to include new numbers reported by CNN.

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Notable Replies

  1. The most fabulous, luxurious ratings ever, bar none, and everyone agrees. Unbelievable.

  2. But Huckabee said that’s why we have an Army–to kill people and break things.

  3. “Trump Debate”. Love it. That really says so much with so few words.

  4. Two words, actually. Which is a feat quite a few candidates at the JV debate found daunting.

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