The biggest winner of the first GOP debate? Fox News — in a landslide

Republicans have a problem. They have so many serious, potentially credible candidates for president that they won't all fit on one stage. And paradoxically, their cartoonish frontrunner is somehow making all those governors and senators look bad. That isn't a problem for Fox News. Quite the opposite.

The conservative-leaning cable news powerhouse split the GOP horde into two groups — let's avoid the infantilizing "adult table" and "kid's table" talk and call them Team A and Team B — and got two debates out of the deal, both on the same night, each promising at least entertainment value.

The 5 p.m. 'Happy Hour' debate, starring Team B, will probably be best remembered for former Texas Gov. Rick Perry calling America's 40th president "Ronald Raven," but the prime-time debate was must-see TV. And this is the first way that Fox News won the debate: The only way to watch the debate was to be a paid subscriber to Fox News.

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The headline fight between Donald Trump and his nine sober-looking rivals for the GOP presidential nomination wasn't exactly pay-per-view, but it was extremely hard to watch if you do not pay for cable TV or a separate subscription to the Fox News Channel. The network offered internet streaming of the debate for people who could provide a user name and password proving they pay for cable, but that crashed pretty quickly. And Fox News was aggressive in shutting down any and all rival online streaming of the debate, including a working livestream provided by sister network Sky TV.

This is unusual for public-affairs television.

Presidential debates are generally considered less paid entertainment and more a way to help voters decide on their next leaders. When they are broadcast on network TV, everyone with an antenna or, usually, an internet connection can watch. This is the kind of public service that C-SPAN was created for, and oftentimes C-SPAN broadcasts the debates, too, online as well as on TV.

You shouldn't have to subscribe to cable to participate in the presidential winnowing process. That Fox News thinks otherwise tells you a lot about where its priorities lie.

And that leads to the second way Fox News won the night: If you are a Republican, conservative, or GOP-leaning independent, there's a good chance you already subscribe to and watch Fox News. In fact, the talking points dutifully recited by the candidates really only make sense if you are familiar with the Fox News ethos or the accepted truths of conservative talk radio, blogs, and websites.

Only in the conservative media universe, for example, is the Iran nuclear deal unpopular with America's allies, President Obama is responsible for the creation of ISIS, America is weak and has abrogated all its global leadership responsibilities, and building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border is a practical and economically reasonable solution to immigration.

"Thursday night's GOP debate was a Fox News affair from beginning to end," notes Slate's Josh Voorhees, approvingly. "Brett Baier opened by asking the candidates onstage to pledge their fealty to the Republican Party. Megyn Kelly ended it by asking them a question about God that morphed into one about God and veterans. You can't get much more Fox News than that."

Yes, Donald Trump spoke the most, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich warmed our hearts by saying nice things about gay couples who get married, and Jeb Bush finally put the Iraq War question behind him (probably), and Marco Rubio (apparently) looked presidential. But nobody landed any knockout punches or showed they were any match for Trump, at least in terms of showmanship, bravado, and pure force of personality.

Fox News probably would have won the debate even if there were a standout candidate. Since there wasn't, it's not even close. Take your bow, Roger Ailes.