Biden’s nightmare debate brought in 48 million viewers — 25 million fewer than 2020’s first matchup – Washington Examiner

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump’s Thursday presidential debate on CNN was the network’s “highest rated CNN program in history,” as about 48 million people tuned in across CNN digital properties.

About 11.4 million people watched on CNN, CNN.com, CNNe, and HLN, while 8.8 million tuned in on Fox News, along with 8.7 million on ABC News. MSNBC had about 4 million viewers.

CNN’s livestreaming feed of the debate received 30 million views on CNN digital properties and on YouTube, and it was the largest event ever for the network’s CNN Max streaming service.

While the viewership did well for CNN, it still didn’t come close to 2020’s first debate in viewers. That debate, hosted by Fox News, drew 73.13 million viewers, 34% more than 2024. The 2024 debate remained well below the average of most general election first debates at 63.8 million viewers.

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2024’s first presidential debate is the first since 1988 that wasn’t organized by the Commission on Presidential Debates, and it was held much earlier than most, which could readily explain why viewership was down. The presidential election is just under five months away, while 2020’s first debate was held with just over a month to go until the election.

If anyone’s to benefit from the lower viewership numbers, it’s Biden, as he underperformed in the debate and did little to dissuade age-related concerns. Final viewer data for the debate will be released later Friday.