CBS Democratic Debate Draws 8.5 Million Viewers

That numberis a far cry, though, from the 15.3 million viewers that CNN attracted last month for the first Democratic debate.

The next Democratic debate is scheduled for the weekend before Christmas.

Saturday night’s Democratic presidential debate, the second overall of this primary season, suffered from problematic scheduling, airing on a night when few people generally watch television. Critics have contended that Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultzis purposely hiding and limitingdebates in order to perpetuate a coronation forHillary Clinton. Plus, the tragic terrorist attacks in Paris on Friday night rightfully drew attention away from the debate and toward the events unfolding in France. “Gap will be between 130 to 140 million viewers – a number equal to the total number of people who are likely to vote next year”. CNN’s pre-debate coverage spanned several days. CBS executives had low ratings expectations due in part to the Saturday night time slot. Subsequent Republican debates have reached progressively smaller audiences.

Saturday’s debate was the first for either party to be televised by a broadcast network this election cycle.

Even more watched the first two Republican events, on Fox News on August 6 and CNN on September 16, which garnered a whopping 25 million viewers and 23 million viewers, respectively.

Saturday debates are exceedingly rare, and we found out why this past weekend.