14 Million Watch GOP Debate on CNBC

By Chris Ariens 

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The primary debates continue to set records, but viewership is starting to fall off.

According to Nielsen fast national ratings, last night’s third GOP debate was watched by 14 million viewers, making it the most-watched CNBC program ever. The debate averaged 3.9 million in the A25-54 demo. The 6 p.m. ET debate, with the four lower-tier candidates, averaged 1.6 million total viewers.

During the 2012 cycle, CNBC hosted the 9th GOP debate on Nov. 9, 2011. That debate drew 3.332 million viewers and 933,000 in the A25-54 demo.

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The first debate of this cycle, on Fox News, drew 24 million viewers, and was the most-watched non-sports cable program ever. The second debate on CNN was the second most-watched, averaging 22.9 million.

The first democratic debate of this cycle, on CNN, drew 15.8 million viewers on Oct. 13.

Debate Network Total Viewers A25-54
Aug. 6 | GOP Fox News 24,000,000 7,900,000
Sept. 16 | GOP CNN 22,940,000 6,900,000
Oct. 13 | Dem CNN 15,791,000 4,998,000
Oct. 28 | GOP CNBC 14,000,000 3,900,000
Nov. 10 | GOP FBN TBD TBD
Nov. 14 | Dem CBS TBD TBD
Dec. 15 | GOP CNN TBD TBD
Dec. 19 | Dem ABC TBD TBD
Jan. 17 | Dem NBC TBD TBD

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