CNN Democratic debate shatters ratings record
The CNN Democratic primary debate on Tuesday evening was the most watched Democratic debate in history, reaching 15.3 million viewers. Between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m., 11 percent of Americans who owned TVs were tuned in to the debate.
The previous record for a Democratic primary was 10.7 million viewers in 2008, when Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama went head-to-head on ABC. The GOP primaries earlier this summer have also smashed records and drawn in even more viewers than their Democratic counterparts: 24 million viewers tuned in to Fox's GOP debate, making it the most-watched primary debate in television history.
All those numbers pale in comparison to the presidential debates that come after the primaries, however — ratings for those typically pull in between 46 and 67 million viewers.
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
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