WASHINGTON — (CNN) The first Republican debate of 2016 attracted a smaller audience than any of the GOP debates earlier in the season, according to Nielsen ratings data.
Still, the debate ratings are impressive when put into proper historical context. The GOP debate slate — with Donald Trump front and center — continues to blow past ratings records from past primary seasons.
Thursday’s prime time debate, televised by the Fox Business Network, averaged a 7.4 household rating in the country’s top TV markets. Viewership totals won’t be available until later in the day on Friday. But the household rating suggests a total audience of 10 to 12 million people.
Nielsen’s ratings only count television viewership at home — no web streams, no bars, no viewing parties.
Fox Business also live-streamed the debate for free on its web site, and said the debate peaked with over one million concurrent Internet viewers.
Fox Business Network’s first GOP debate, held back in November, averaged a 8.9 household rating and 13.5 million total viewers. The network said it had more than 1.4 million concurrent live streams that time.
The most recent GOP debate, televised by CNN in December, averaged a 12.2 household rating and 18 million viewers.
At this point in the 2008 and 2012 primaries, GOP debates were drawing 5 to 7 million.
So there’s been a dramatic uptick in this cycle, spurred by Trump’s surprise entrance into the race and his unpredictable, entertaining style.
The very first debate of the season, held by Fox Business Network’s bigger brother Fox News, topped out at 25 million viewers in August.
Clearly some of the early curiosity about the two to three hour long debates has waned since then. But there’s still a whole lot of interest among the viewing public.
Thursday’s debate will rank as Fox Business Network’s second highest rated program ever, surpassed only by its November debate.
The prime time debate started at 9 p.m. Eastern and continued until almost 11:30, testing the patience of some viewers.
The “undercard” debate at 6 p.m. averaged a 1.5 household rating, according to Nielsen’s overnight data, which is dramatically lower than the 3.5 household rating for Fox Business’s first “undercard” in November.
Rand Paul made news by skipping the “undercard” debate after Fox Business said he did not qualify for the prime time stage.
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