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Second Republican debate averages 9.5 million viewers

2023-10-06 00:00:00.0 华盛顿邮报-政治原网页

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The second debate of the 2024 Republican presidential primary season attracted an average of 9.5 million viewers across the three channels that aired it Wednesday night — Fox Business Network, Fox News and Univision.

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The viewership was down from the roughly 12.8 million people who watched the first debate of the cycle last month — but still surpassed the ratings for any other show on television on a night when the major broadcast networks stuck to game shows and reality programs, demonstrating the continued allure of major live political events.

The debate was moderated by Fox’s Dana Perino and Stuart Varney and Univision’s Ilia Calderón. While the business channel officially hosted the event, most of the viewership tuned into Fox News, which also hosted the first debate of the cycle.

So far, viewership of the 2024 GOP debates is down significantly from the average 15.5 million people who tuned in to the 12 primary debates of the 2016 cycle, when Donald Trump made his electoral debut.

The former president, who is leading significantly in the polls, was notably absent Wednesday, the second straight debate he has skipped.

Held at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., the debate was often combative, with candidates launching barbs as the moderators tried to wrest back control of the event — at one point warning long-shot candidate Gov. Doug Burgum (R-N.D.) that his microphone would be silenced if he continued to speak over his opponents and the hosts.

Near the end, the candidates rebuffed a request from Perino to name the candidate they thought should drop out of the race, after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared that doing so would be “disrespectful” to his opponents.

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