Trump’s interview with Tucker Carlson garnered 240 million views, while Fox broadcast simultaneously) co-moderated by Martha MacCallum and Bret Baier on Fox News Channel got 11.09 million total viewers. That’s less than half of the 24 million who watched the Republicans battle it out back in Aug. 2015, and a mere 4,5% of Trump viewers.

The viewership numbers for the first Republican primary debate of the 2024 election cycle are in, and considering the absence of former President Donald Trump and the linear TV market being smaller than ever—Fox News Media and the Republican National Committee will likely be satisfied with the findings.

Per live plus same day data from Nielsen, more than 11.09 million total viewers ended up watching last night’s debate co-moderated by Martha MacCallum and Bret Baier on Fox News Channel. Tack on the 1.7 million who watched on Fox Business Network and non-linear/streaming figures onto the total, and you have a total of 12.8 million consuming the two-hour broadcast across linear and streaming.

The Fox News Republican Primary Debate (9-11 p.m. ET) was not only the most-watched telecast on all of U.S. TV yesterday, it was the most-watched non-sports telecast of 2023 to-date.

Out of the 12.8 million watching the debate across Fox News and FBN, 2.82 million hailed from the Adults 25-54 demo–the demo TV news advertisers covet.

TVNewser predicted yesterday that the first Fox News GOP 2024 debate would draw between eight and 10 million total linear viewers across Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network. Apparently, we underestimated a bit!

We also estimate the Trump absence likely cost Fox News Media five million total linear viewers at the very least, including younger demos/less-frequent news consumers who’d be more interested in seeing a Trump spectacle.

Source: The Geller Report