CNBC’s Republican primary debate was significantly lower-rated than the previous debates of the season, according to preliminary Nielsen ratings data.
But the event is still likely to rank as CNBC’s highest-rated program in its history.
Preliminary data, which is subject to change, indicates that about 10% of homes with TV sets tuned in for the two-hour debate on Wednesday night. Fox’s debate in August drew about 16% of those homes and CNN’s debate in September drew about 15%.
For perspective’s sake, the highest-rated GOP primary debate before this year was an ABC debate in January 2008, when about 5% of homes tuned in.
Total viewership figures for the CNBC face-off will be released on Thursday afternoon. The prime time debate is likely to top ten million viewers.
Donald Trump is a big reason why television networks have seen big spikes in debate viewership this fall.
The undercard debate at 6 p.m. was much lower-rated, with about 1.3% of homes tuned in.
Day in and day out, CNBC has a smaller audience than Fox and CNN, which made it hard for the network to match the earlier GOP events.
CNBC’s debate was also up against very stiff television competition: Game two of the World Series.
The performance of the debate moderators was widely pilloried, by both the candidates and commenters on social media, which spurred speculation that viewers might drop out before the end of the event at 10:15 p.m. ET.
However, the preliminary data suggests that the audience peaked toward the end of the 9 p.m. hour.
Perhaps the online complaints caused some viewers to tune in out of curiosity. Or perhaps glum Mets fans just wanted to take a break from the game.
CNBC charged $250,000 for 30-second ads during the debate, according to an NBCUniversal source.
Trump even brought up the sky-high ad rates on stage.
The next GOP debate will be televised by the Fox Business Network, a rival of CNBC’s, on November 10.