Democratic primary debate television ratings cut in half since first debate

The fourth Democratic presidential debate saw a sharp decline in television ratings compared to the party's first one in June.

Tuesday night's debate, which was hosted by CNN and the New York Times, garnered an audience of 8.1 million viewers, according to early Nielsen Media Research. It was the smallest viewership for a presidential debate this election cycle when factoring in that some debates were aired across multiple platforms. CNN did, however, share in a statement that 9.2 million viewers streamed the debate via a number of platforms.

The first presidential debate of this cycle, which was on NBC, MSNBC, and Telemundo, took place on June 26 and 27, and each night featured 10 candidates. That first night had approximately 15 million viewers. The next night, which featured the viral moment of California Sen. Kamala Harris confronting former Vice President Joe Biden, had an even larger audience of 18 million people.

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