CNN doesn't expect many people to watch the Democratic debate

While the first two Republican debates pulled in about 23 million viewers each, CNN does not anticipate similar record numbers for the first Democratic primary debate, which it is hosting on Tuesday.

"Viewership for the first two GOP debates was an anomaly in a highly unusual Republican nomination cycle," said CNN's Sam Feist. "While I won't predict ratings for this debate, we expect the audience to be significantly smaller." A comparable debate in 2008 drew just a tenth of the viewership of the Republican events this cycle.

The expected disparity is by and large due to the Democrats' much smaller field of contenders: With Vice President Joe Biden not participating, only five candidates will appear on the stage. Of those, only two — Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders — are polling above single digits, and none can bring anything resembling Donald Trump's ratings-generating bombast to the debate.

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