The long awaited debate Thursday night's clash between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump drew 47.9 million viewers on CNN television reported on Friday, citing preliminary Nielsen ratings.
The 90-minute debate, hosted by CNN and simulcast on 22 networks, featured only the two likely party nominees and was defined by debilitating answers by the current president and lies and false statements by his predecessor.
The network broadcast the event from its studios in Atlanta and offered others a free live feed, but with conditions on presentation and branding, according to CNN.
How many people watched the first presidential debate of 2024?
CNN drew 9.04 million viewers to its main channels, CNN Espanol and HLN, the network said Friday. Fox News drew 8.8 million viewers, ABC News 8.7 million and MSNBC 4.9 million viewers, the network said.
The first presidential debate of 2024 generated more than 30 million views across CNN's digital properties and on YouTube. “Across CNN's digital platforms, the debate was CNN's largest debate ever and tied for our largest livestreamed event ever with 2.3 million concurrent live views through 9:47 p.m.,” CNN said.
How do the viewing figures compare to the viewership from previous debates?
The nearly 48 million people who watched the debate on TV Thursday night marks a 35% drop from 2020, when more than 73 million people watched the first debate between Biden and Trump on all TV networks. In 2016, a record 84 million people watched the first debate between Hillary Clinton and Trump.
The previous most-watched program in CNN history came in 2015, when a Republican debate featuring Trump and GOP rivals drew an average of 23.1 million viewers. passed.
