Cable and television viewers are losing interest in the onstage feuds between Republican presidential candidates, according to the latest ratings released after Wednesday night's event.
A total of 4 million people tuned in to watch the bickering between four candidates hoping to breeze past front-runner Donald Trump, according to data released by NewsNation, which broadcast the debate from Alabama.
That includes 1.6 million people who watched it on the growing NewsNation network and 2.5 million who tuned in to CW stations that air the simulcast. It was a record for NewsNation and the largest audience since 2018 for CW.
But the ratings for the debate – in which Vivek Ramaswamy called Nikki Haley “corrupt” and Chris Christie called Ramaswamy a “jack***”, while Ron DeSantis offered muted criticism of absent front-runner Trump – were down from 6.9 million focused on the third debate on NBC.
Four million people watched the fourth Republican primary debate, broadcast by NewsNation and simulcast by the CW network
The number of viewers dropped with each debate
Including streaming, 7.5 million people watched that hit.
That in itself was a 21 percent drop from the October debate, when 9.5 million people attended the GOP field on Fox, Fox Business and Univision.
The fireworks on stage were not enough to reverse the declining ratings of the debates, which have continued since the summer.
The first debate, on Fox and Fox Business, attracted the largest audience, with 12.8 million people. There was a decline from one debate to the next.
The fourth GOP debate drew about 1 million fewer than was tuned in to watch DeSantis debate California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sean Hannity's program on Fox News. That one-on-one event drew five million people, about double Hannity's typical audience. That event had been hyped for weeks and featured angry exchanges between the two candidates and graphs prepared by Hannity's staff showing crime and immigration problems.
NewsNation CEO Sean Compton called the ratings a notable achievement for the upstart network.
The ratings for the Alabama smackdown were down 3 million viewers from the previous debate
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie called 2024 rival Vivek Ramaswamy a “jacka**” with a “woman problem” during a CNN interview after Wednesday night's fiery fourth Republican primary debate.
Christie called Vivek Ramaswamy a 'stunner'
Former FOX News anchor and moderator Megyn Kelly was one of three moderators on Wednesday
Republican presidential candidate, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, tried to taunt Ron DeSantis to hit Trump more forcefully
DeSantis would not call Trump “unfit,” but pointed out that his rival is 77
Nikki Haley has gained a boost in the polls amid debates as she faces attacks from Ramaswamy and other rivals
Trump skipped the debate and appeared at a Manhattan courthouse for his fraud trial on Thursday
“NewsNation was incredibly honored to host last night's debate, and we're thrilled that so many viewers tuned in and watched,” he said. “This debate is a remarkable achievement for a cable news network that has been in existence for just three years.”
It comes under pressure from Donald Trump's allies to ditch debates altogether to start the race against Joe Biden, while Trump is about 40 percentage points ahead of his rivals in the polls.
But CNN announced Thursday it would hold debates in Iowa and New Hampshire next month, with DeSantis and Ramaswamy already expressing interest.
Republican National Committee spokesman Keith Schipper clarified on Thursday that the two CNN meetings are “not RNC-sanctioned debates,” but that the Republican National Committee is considering a rule change that would exempt Republican candidates from appearing in only RNC-sanctioned debates.
Wednesday's event was hosted by host Megyn Kelly, Eliana Johnson, editor-in-chief of The Free Beacon, and NewsNation anchor Elizabeth Vargas.
In it, Christie called Ramaswamy a “jack****” with a “woman problem” and “the most annoying blowout in America.”
Ramaswamy held up a sign that read “Haley = Corrupt” and deigned to tell Christie to “enjoy a nice meal and get out of this race.”
DeSantis called out the 77-year-old Trump for his age but declined to call him unfit, amid lectures from Christie about ignoring the front-runner who wasn't even there.
“Father Time is undefeated, the idea that we're going to put someone there who's almost 80 and there's going to be no consequences — we all know that's not true,” he said, without taking Christie's bait and calling Trump. 'not suitable.'
Trump has posted that the debates, without him there, were junior varsity affairs. He posted another poll analysis showing that his lead of about 40 points has actually increased since the first debate in August.