Yuge: Trumpless Debate Earns Higher Ratings Than Last GOP Debate That Included Trump

Townhall.com ^ | January 29, 2016 | Guy Benson

[Kaslin]

That headline is technically accurate: Last night's Trump-free Fox News forum pulled in roughly 12-13 million viewers, better than the 11 million or so who watched the Fox Business debate earlier this month, at which The Donald stood center stage.  Trump out, ratings up!  Well, sort of.  The Des Moines debate was still the second-least watched GOP debate of the cycle (maybe third-least, including online live streams), and many Trump fans -- suddenly highly interested in nuance in context -- are pointing out that the lowest-rated one aired on FBN, which has a smaller footprint than Fox News or CNN nationwide.  True enough, although FBN's November debate rated higher than three others, suggesting that viewership for these events has declined over time, with and without Trump. To wit: The Donald's social media army trying to pit last night's numbers (which dwarfed CNN and MSNBC's combined coverage of the billionaire's counter-programming rally) against Fox's August ratings bonanza, which is a ridiculous comparison.  Fox and CNN's first debates garnered truly massive audiences, then each network experienced a drop-off of millions of viewers in its subsequent debate, as did Fox Business. TV Line probably has the most evenhanded headline I've seen, characterizing the ratings as "steady' in Trump's absence.  The Trump campaign hilariously predicted that just "one or two million" Americans would tune into last night's proceedings.  Oops.  What's undoubtedly clear is that the current cycle's Republican debates are attracting much more attention than they did in 2012:

More context: In 2012, the highest-rated #GOPDebate (ABC NH) drew 7.6 mil viewers.

Without Trump on stage, ~12 mil watched last night.— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) January 29, 2016

And far more eyeballs than the Democrats, who've enjoyed the benefit of two debates televised on over-the-air broadcast networks:

Lowest-rated #GOPDebate (1/14 on FBN) still beat 3 of the 4 Dem debates -- two of which aired on broadcast nets: pic.twitter.com/cz10UMUQch— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) January 29, 2016

Good work, DNC.  The first Republican broadcast network debate of the 2016 race will air next Saturday night on ABC, ahead of the New Hampshire primary.  As I mentioned above, it was this debate (scheduled on the same night and on the same network) that pulled in the biggest rating of 2012.  Expect a big viewership surge this year, as well -- due to added interest after actual voting has begun, the wide accessibility its over-the-air network host, and, yes, the return of Donald Trump.  Assuming he doesn't throw another  spiteful conniption fit and run away again, that is.   I'll leave you with this:

Luntz Focus Group Has Overwhelming Reaction to Trump Skipping GOP

[sunrise_sunset]

Fox Business vs Fox News. Different # of households by a lot.

[stocksthatgoup]

Less than half last Fox debate.

[usafa92]

About the 10th post of this today.

[springwater13]

Everyone knows that the first debate on FOX News since August between Donald Trump and Megyn Kelly would have been a ratings bonanza. Trump boycott probably cost them at least 10 million viewers.

[mac_truck]

Stop drinking the GOPe toilet water Kaslin.

[paintriot]

This surely means Cruz will win.

[Enlightened1]

Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump 3h

They say that if I participated in last night’s Fox debate, they would have had 12 million more & would have broken the all time record.

[Enlightened1]

Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump 3h

They say that if I participated in last night’s Fox debate, they would have had 12 million more & would have broken the all time record.

[MotorCityBuck]

Karl Rove has deep pockets. After Trump finishes off Cruz they will move on to there first choice. Jeb! Thee Anointed.
Go Trump

[TigersEye]

Less of a circus too although Wallace and Kelly tried their
best to make it one.

[dschapin]

The last fox debate was the first debate with Trump in it and all of the debates since then have steadily dropped down to lower numbers. Read the article for more details.

[TexasFreeper2009]

the entire debate? or only the portion after Trumps event ended when everyone switched over to catch the end of the debate which was still going?

[MNJohnnie]

Shameless liars strike again.

Lying by omission

The last debate was on Fox Business. Fox Business reaches 20% fewser household then Fox News. So comparing Fox Business numbers to Fox News numbers there is an intentional attempt to deceive by leaving out critical facts.

Fox News got 24 Million at their 1st Debate. Fox News at the 2nd debate go slightly better then half that.

In the real world, rather then the world of political spin, last night was a very very very bad night for Fox News.

[Kaslin]

He sure is a worse narcissist than that arrogant pos occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

[dforest]

Good grief. Kelly looks ugly on that photo. What happened to her?

[MNJohnnie]

Just not going to stop lying about it.

Fox News reaches 20% more households then Fox Business. Comparing Fox News numbers to Fox Business is intellectually dishonest at best.

let look at this. Fox drew less then CNN did at their debate yet Fox has a much bigger market share.

Why was that?

[VRWC For Truth]

Kaslin is a one trick GOPe pony ... Consider the source ...

[Vic S]

This surely means Cruz will win.

Or Kasich. I can't believe someone went through the effort of even writing that.

[jonrick46]

I repeat, so that the muddled conclusions of Guy Benson's commentary can be trumped by your clear words of truth:

"Fox Business vs Fox News. Different # of households by a lot."