The ratings for the second night of the first round of Democratic debates are in, and as expected, bigger names resulted in bigger numbers.
Night two saw a roughly 15% increase from the first night of the debates, according to the Hollywood Reporter. NBC drew an 8.05 household rating Thursday night, compared to a 7.0 rating on Wednesday. The debate was also broadcast on MSNBC and Telemundo. (RELATED: NBC’s Democratic Debate Ratings Post Big Numbers, But Not As Big As 2015 Debate)
Senator Kamala Harris speaks during the second night of the first Democratic presidential candidates debate in Miami, Florida, U.S. June 27, 2019. REUTERS/Mike Segar
The second round of debates featured front-runners such as Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, former Vice President Joe Biden, California Sen. Kamala Harris, and South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg. This was in contrast to the first debate, which mostly consisted of long-shot candidates with the exception of Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. (RELATED: Pete Buttigieg Accuses Republicans Of ‘Hypocrisy’ On Religion)
Both debates exceeded the viewership of every debate in the 2008 and 2012 primaries, but fell far short of the first 2016 Republican primary debate, which pulled in a record 24 million viewers on Fox News.
The second round of debates next month will feature an identical format to Wednesday and Thursday night’s debates. Those debates will take place on July 30 and July 31 in Detroit, Michigan.