Owing to the popularity of the TV show known as the 2016 Primary Debates, for the first time one debate aired on three networks last night. The Univision/Washington Post Democratic Debate also aired on Fusion, which is co-owned by ABC and Univision, as well as CNN, which paid for the simulcast rights.
A combined 5.948 million total viewers watched the debate on Univision and CNN, with the Spanish-language network averaging 2.006 million and CNN with 3.942 million. (Fusion ratings are not publicly available). This the 6th most-watched of the 8 Democratic Debates so far.
CNN was first on cable news last night from 9-11 p.m. ET, topping FNC’s GOP candidate interviews at 9 p.m. (with Sen. Ted Cruz) and 10 p.m. (with Donald Trump) in total viewers and the demo.
CNN has another debate tonight, also in Miami, among the four remaining GOP candidates. CNN’s Jake Tapper moderates, along with CNN’s Dana Bash, Salem talk radio host Hugh Hewitt and The Washington Times’ Stephen Dinan.
Here’s the 2016 debate ranker, which includes Nielsen viewership data, along with concurrent livestreaming information provided by the networks.
| Debate | Network | Total Viewers | A25-54 | Concurrent Streams |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug. 6 | GOP | Fox News | 24,000,000 | 7,900,000 | 2,400,000** |
| Sept. 16 | GOP | CNN | 22,940,000 | 6,900,000 | 921,000 |
| Oct. 13 | Dem | CNN | 15,791,000 | 4,998,000 | 980,000 |
| Oct. 28 | GOP | CNBC | 14,000,000 | 3,900,000 | *** |
| Nov. 10 | GOP | FBN | 13,500,000 | 3,670,000 | *** |
| Nov. 14 | Dem | CBS | 8,500,000 | 2,120,000 | *** |
| Dec. 15 | GOP | CNN | 18,165,000 | 5,560,000 | 815,000 |
| Dec. 19 | Dem | ABC | 7,850,000 | 1,928,000 | *** |
| Jan. 14 | GOP | FBN | 11,094,000 | 2,983,000 | xxx,000 |
| Jan. 17 | Dem | NBC | 10,200,000 | 3,170,000 | *** |
| Jan. 28 | GOP | Fox News | 12,466,000 | 3,467,000 | 1,350,000 |
| Feb. 4 | Dem | MSNBC | 4,489,000 | 1,211,000 | *** |
| Feb. 6 | GOP | ABC | 13,181,000 | 3,384,000 | *** |
| Feb. 11 | Dem | PBS/CNN | 8,030,000 | 2,300,000 | *** |
| Feb. 13 | GOP | CBS | 13,510,000 | 3,520,000 | TBD |
| Feb. 25 | GOP | Telemundo/CNN | 14,521,000 | 4,684,000 | 700,000 |
| Mar. 3 | GOP | Fox News | 16,852,000 | 5,462,000 | 1,490,000 |
| Mar. 6 | Dem | CNN | 5,500,000 | 1,788,000 | TBD |
| Mar. 9 | Dem | Univision/CNN | 5,948,000 | 2,309,000 | TBD |
| Mar. 10 | GOP | CNN | TBD | TBD | TBD |
| Mar. 21 | GOP | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
**Users needed to be an authenticated viewer to watch the livestream.
***Concurrent livestream data has not available.