(PartiallyPolitics.com) – NBC News hosted on Wednesday the third Republican presidential primary debate which received a viewership of less than 7 million Americans. This is the lowest audience turnout in the 2024 presidential campaign cycle, and it marks a 45 percent drop in viewership since the time of the first debate in August.
The broadcast which took place during prime time from 8 to 10 p.m. attracted a total of 6.8 million viewers on linear television. Of those who watched the debate, 1.3 million belonged to the 25-54 demographic.
A decline in viewership of the debate had also occurred during the second primary debate in September when 9 million viewers had tuned in to watch the Republican candidates discuss the presidential election and the issues they would address if elected. The second primary debate was broadcast on Fox News and managed to reach a total of 9.5 million views across the different platforms. There was also a total of 1.8 million viewers who belonged to the 25-54 age demographic.
In contrast, the August 2015 primary debate, which then-candidate Donald Trump had attended had received a record view count of 24 million and is to this day the highest non-sports cable telecast. The Wednesday debate had a 71 percent drop in the number of viewers when compared to the 2015 debate.
While there is no strong interest in the primary debates, which many people view as an attempt for the Republican candidates to try and win the number 2 place in the election, Republicans have also expressed dissatisfaction with the results in the Tuesday election, as Democrats ended up winning in Ohio, Kentucky, and Virginia.
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