CNN draws 22.9 million for GOP debate
The ratings power of Donald Trump apparently is transferable.
According to preliminary ratings, CNN attracted a network-record 22.9 million viewers for Wednesday's primetime Republican debate, as frontrunner Trump appeared with 10 other hopefuls seeking the GOP presidential nomination at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California. The number fell slightly more than 1 million viewers short of the 24 million Fox News Channel pulled in for an August GOP debate.
CNN also recorded 4.5 million live video streams of the three-hour debate, which was moderated by Jake Tapper.
The high-profile candidacy of businessman and celebrity Trump has been credited with swelling interest in the Republican campaign.
A second, smaller debate involving Republican candidates who didn't qualify for the main event averaged 6.3 million viewers Wednesday. A similar event that preceded the first main Republican debate in August drew 6.1 million viewers on Fox News Channel.
The debate ratings easily eclipse the previous top-rated show on CNN, a special 1993 Larry King Live show with Ross Perot and then-Vice President Al Gore that drew 16.8 million. Before Wednesday's event, CNN's most-watched presidential primary debate was a 2008 Democratic gathering in California that attracted 8.3 million viewers.