Posted on 01/29/2016 9:50:49 AM PST by xzins
The first Republican presidential debate of the season without front-runner Donald Trump generated smaller viewer interest than all but one of this cycle's prior GOP gatherings, according to preliminary Nielsen estimates â but still drew four times as many viewers as Trump's competing event.
In the metered-market overnights, which represent 56 of the nation's largest markets, Fox News Channel's debate from Iowa averaged an 8.4 household rating. This is up vs. the 7.4 overnight rating for the most recent GOP debate, on Fox Business Network earlier this month, but it stands as the second lowest-rated of the six Republican gatherings this cycle.
Nielsen will issue total-viewer estimates later Friday, but it's likely that last night's debate on FNC averaged in the vicinity of 12 million viewers.
Curiosity over the unpredictable Trump fueled record tune-in for the first GOP debate last summer, as Fox News Channel drew 24 million in August
(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...
It was covered in all or part if a few locations
Couldn’t watch the debate. Was the hand-picked muslim person used to attack someone else?
not nearly by enough.
i wanted no one to watch it!!
it was gonna be a hit on Cruz all along.
you trump people dislike cruz and i cannot for the life of me figure out why.
of course they are fighting right now, they are trying to win.
but trump and cruz are two equally important pieces in the next 5 to 16 years of our country.
obviously trump for hte first eight, but once he finds out what @#$@$#s the establishment is, he’s going to be glad Ted is a senator.
FOX targets Trump first and Cruz second. they want rubio OR HILLARY to win.
THEY DONT CARE ABOUT YOU THEY DONT CARE ABOUT ME!!!
they are low cost labor whores (one is that and the original meaning) and they need to go down in flames.
Trump claimed he was skipping the debate because of Megan Kelly.
The rally for vets was an emergency afterthought.
It wasn't the other way around.
It has now been made public that Fox News was planning an ambush, that Fox news supports amnesty, that Fox news contributes to Clinton campaigns, that Fox news the corporation released a message demeaning Trump, that Fox news was inviting a questioner who had compared Trump to Hitler, and that Fox news campaign new director is connected to the Rubio camp.
Now, why do you call that ‘running from Megyn’ when Trump handed Megyn her head last time around?
Debate Without Trump Gets Better Ratings Than Last Debate with Trump
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3390257/posts
Last night’s debate had more viewers than the debate two weeks ago when The One was there.
How do you explain that?
There was no challenge involved.
Just heard on talk radio today that 26% of Trumps Twitter followers are from white supremacist groups.
Birds of a feather, I guess.
Trumpisms.....
"Black guys counting my money! I hate it. The only kind of people I want counting my money are short guys that wear yarmulkes every day."
"Laziness is a trait in blacks."
If Trump wins the primaries, OMG! The Democrats have so much dirt- on tape and in his own words - he'll be lucky if he ever dares to show his face in public again.
So did Trump up until he decided to run. Saw a commercial showing Trump being all for amnesty up until then. It was his face. It was his voice. It was Donald Trump.
The same can be said for his support of nationalizing oboma care and nationalizing the banks. It's all on record. It's there for anyone who wants to do the homework.
You Tube has clips of Trump interviews that put him to the far left of Hillary Clinton. There's no denying who he really is. The info is everywhere.
It’s been said before, but I even heard Huckabee say it again this morning on CNN: Trump converted to conservatism in 2011 and that should be taken into account when reviewing any record.
Is a wall a liberal position?
Is a moratorium on muslim immigration a liberal position?
Is health savings accounts and buying personal insurance nationwide a liberal position?
Is killing TPP a liberal position?
Is opposition to Iran nukes a liberal position?
Is opposition to China money manipulation a liberal position?
So did Trump. Trump also donated to oboma, Pelosi, Harry Reed, Anthony Weener, Chuck Shumer, and the list goes on and on. His praise and support for these people is all on record. Check it out. It's all out there if you really care. You Tube has a lot of Trump interviews right up until Trump decided he wanted the Gloden Key to the oval office.
Why do you think he's running away from hard question? ANY questions? All he's got is "Hope and Change" to run on, and like oboma - is actually pulling it off (so far).
No doubt about it!
Trump is the master at this.
It all depends on how you define “win”.
The audience for this debate was half of what it was in the previous Fox sponsored debate. That would seem to indicate a Trump win.
The audience for this debate was equal to or a little higher than the other debates (not Fox). That would seem to indicate Trumps no-show had little effect.
Trump’s event had a much smaller audience than the debate. That would seem to indicate a Trump loss.
All three statements are true.
One can surmise the following:
Conservatives watch Fox News more than any other network that hosted any of the debates. It would seem that the last debate before voting starts in conjunction with it being on Fox News should have had huge numbers. It didn’t. Why? Some say the public is suffering from debate fatigue. It could also be that a large percentage of Fox News’ audience agreed with Trump and tuned out.
Trump’s event pulling smaller numbers isn’t particularly a surprise. Most people watch debates like they look at car accidents, a morbid fascination with destruction. They are hoping their guy will do well and that every one else will implode. The Trump event, while for a great cause, wasn’t going to be exciting. It had all the drawing power of a telethon.
In my opinion, Trump won. Fox had lower ratings. People are still talking about him. Trump raised a bunch of money for veterans. Biggest of all, he avoided imploding, which it seems was MK and RM’s goal of the evening.
You don’t see a difference between a BUSINESS needing to spread money around to politicians and the media outlet charged with neutrality giving money to the person they’re supposed to be covering?
For transparency, I like both Cruz and Trump but Iâm still not yet convinced Cruz can garner the national support to win the presidency. Although his republican supports are fervent, this has yet to translate into broad support in the republican base and still would have the momentous hurdle of general national support.....
I wonât get an opportunity to vote till much later in the process so I have the luxury of watching the candidates in frenzy mode in the early states, see how they clarify their positions on issues and handle controversies....
On FR, Iâve noted that Trump supporters are nonchalant regarding anything he does....I swear he could stomp on puppies and kittens in front a pre-school and they would yawn.....
On the flip side, Cruz supporters are very angry in their responses, close to âyouâre a giant poopy-headâ if you state anything negative about Cruz or support anyone other candidate.....
Regardless, this has been a hell-of-a-ride! So all I will state at this point is....
Best....Election.....Ever!!!
The previous debate was a non-event.
Last night was a challenge match.
It's the Road to Serfdom. Hitler didn't try to destroy democracy. He just took advantage of it's decay. When it came time to choose, even those who despised Hitler chose to support him anyway.
Aren't you at all curious about Trumps white supremacist following on Twitter? (again, do your homework and check it out yourself). Why would these groups be so drawn to him?
"Manufacture a crises. People will cry out for a savior. Be that savior God or the devil - people will still support him. "
No I’m not concerned. Everyone to David Duke to Robert Byrd has latched on to conservatism at some point to try and earn credibility. That doesn’t mean that those candidates at the time supported that nonsense.
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