Fox News’s first Republican debate of the 2024 presidential election exceeded expectations and brought in 12.8 million total viewers, according to data released by Nielsen ratings.

Fox broke a record in 2015 with its first debate that cycle, raking in 24 million total average viewers — the most watched primary debate up until that point in the history of television. The 12 debates of the 2016 campaign averaged around 15 million viewers, with the January 28th debate, which Trump boycotted, having brought in 12.5 million. In the years since 2015, the industry has contracted with the rise of streaming services and so-called “cord cutters” abandoning cable — making Wednesday’s viewership all the more impressive.

In the key 25-54 age demographic, the debate hosted by anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, brought in 2.82 million total viewers. The debate was also broadcast live on Fox Business Network, Fox News Digital and Fox Nation, bringing the total viewership to 13 million, making it the “highest-rated non-sports cable telecast of 2023 and topping more than 70% of all presidential primary debates in the last two cycles (2016 and 2020),” according to Fox.

[It’s pretty impressive, but it’s also the first debate. Viewership will likely decline for the next debate a bit, so everyone will have to manage their expectations. Trump is bragging about getting 100 million Twitter views for his interview with Tucker Carlson, but there are some caveats to that. Any activation of the video counts as a “view” on Twitter, no matter how long it lasts, so scrolling past it slow enough will generate a view. No doubt millions have watched at least a substantial part of that video, but it wasn’t live and simultaneous. The RNC debate got that live and simultaneous audience. — Ed]