CNN reports 20-year record low debate viewership

CNN reports indicate that just 47.9 million people tuned in to the first 2024 presidential debate.

The 2020 re-match saw a 35% dip in audience from the first clash between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, which drew 73.1 million viewers in September 2020.

The debate, hailed by many as catastrophic for the Biden campaign as his signs of age drew more attention than Trump’s constant factual errors, gave an embattled Trump an opportunity to demonstrate his relative spryness, leading many pundits to call for Biden to leave the ticket.

The Biden campaign took the poor performance in stride, pushing forward with the president’s planned appearance in North Carolina and rejecting demands and speculation on the candidates' position atop the ticket.

CNN did note an uptick in digital engagement on its own digital channels, indicating that its live stream and social channels saw record data.

“Across CNN’s digital platforms, the debate was CNN’s biggest debate ever,” the network said.

The Thursday debate was the least-watched head-to-head between candidates in nearly 20 years, pulling just ahead of a 2004 debate.

Per the Commission on Presidential Debates, the second presidential debate between incumbent George W. Bush and John Kerry drew 46.7 million viewers, a few hundred thousand less than Thursday.

The two candidates, among the most unpopular in U.S. history, each did little to draw support to their campaigns during the debate, which featured untraditional rules aimed at dissipating interruptions.

In 2016, Trump and his opponent Hillary Clinton shattered records, with 84 million Americans tuning in for the circus featuring now-infamous interruptions from Trump.