Last Night’s Debate Was the Most Watched Democratic Debate Ever

John Locher/AP


Update, October 14, 12:47 p.m.: Tuesday’s Democratic debate averaged 15.3 million viewers, making it the highest-rated Democratic primary debate in history.

Previously:

Donald Trump and political pundits alike predicted that the first Democratic debate would tank with audiences, but the initial numbers show otherwise.

According to CNN, which live-streamed last night’s event as well as the second Republican showdown back in September, the Dems scored 980,000 concurrent live streams, while the Republican debate peaked at 921,000 streams.

Granted, the live-stream numbers reflect a particular, possibly younger and more Democratic-leaning audience than overall viewership. Still, while the Donald may fancy himself a ratings magnet—so much that he graciously offered to live-tweet the Democratic debate to keep viewers engaged—it appears he’s not the only one who can deliver audiences.

Fact:

Mother Jones was founded as a nonprofit in 1976 because we knew corporations and billionaires wouldn't fund the type of hard-hitting journalism we set out to do.

Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2024 demands.

payment methods

Fact:

Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2024 demands.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate