Scott Olson/Getty Images
Guests at the Old Town Pour House watch a debate between President Joe Biden and presumptive Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump, on June 27, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois.
CNN
—
Thursday night's CNN debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump was tuned in by 51.27 million viewers, according to Nielsen data.
The 90-minute debate that shocked the political world was broadcast simultaneously on 22 networks. CNN, which hosted the debate from its Atlanta studios, offered all networks free live coverage, with strict conditions on presentation and branding.
On television, CNN drew 9.53 million viewers on its flagship channel, its highest single audience, including 3.379 million in the advertiser-coveted 25-54 age group, the network said Friday. Right-wing talk channel Fox News had 9.276 million viewers, ABC News had 9.21 million and MSNBC had 4.122 million.
“The CNN presidential debate was watched by more people than any other program in CNN's history,” the network said. The debate was also the most-watched non-sports program on television so far this year.
View this interactive content on CNN.com
The broadcast drew the largest audience in the history of CNN's Max streaming service, although the network has not released viewership figures.
While the debate had the largest television audience this year, it was down more than 30% from the more than 73 million people who tuned in to watch the first debate between Trump and Biden across all TV stations in 2020. In 2016, a record 84 million people tuned in to watch the first debate between Hillary Clinton and Trump.
Fewer Americans watched the debates on television compared to past election years, but millions more tuned in on digital platforms.
CNN said the debate garnered more than 30 million views across its digital sites and YouTube. The network said it was the largest event ever held on CNN's digital platforms and was streamed 2.5 million times, making it the most live-streamed event of its kind.
For CNN, Thursday night's debate was a marketing coup, coming at a crucial time as the network seeks to reverse a ratings decline and embarks on a strategy to reinvent the 40-year-old network for the digital age.
CNN's most-watched program of all time came in 2015, when the Republican debate featuring President Trump and a host of Republican candidates averaged 23.1 million viewers.
Thursday's primetime debate broke with the longstanding tradition of general election debates being organized by the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates and shared with the TV networks. Primary debates have traditionally been hosted by the individual networks, but the candidates and CNN did away with the commission entirely, bucking tradition of holding debates before candidates officially become their party's nominee.
The debate will be a much-needed boost for CNN, which has seen its ratings fall as its on-air lineup changes and traditional TV viewers turn to streaming services.
Presidential election season often sees a surge in ratings for news networks as viewers watch the race unfold, but 2024 has proven to be an exception so far, with virtually all news media seeing declines in viewership since 2020.
After the debate, attention was focused on Biden's performance, but CNN's lack of interest in fact-checking during the debate drew criticism.
“I hope CNN's hosts will do a better job of fact-checking and informing viewers when they make statements that are demonstrably false,” New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof wrote. “I don't see how a platform can help by promoting lies disguised as fact.”
Ahead of the event, CNN political director David Chalian said the network would limit on-stage fact-checking as the candidates addressed the issues and aimed to “stay out of the debate.”
Hosts Jake Tapper and Dana Bash tread carefully with their questions, asking repeated questions when the candidates didn't answer and monitoring their allotted speaking time. At one point, Bash pressed Trump three times whether he would accept the results of the 2024 election.
“We are so proud of Jake and Dana,” a CNN spokesperson said. “Our job was to ensure the candidates were heard so voters could make an informed decision, and we're glad we were able to do that.”
This story has been updated with additional developments and background information.