--- description: The Fox News debate got more viewers than the Trump rally on cable news title: Republican Debate Beats Trump Rally in Ratings Battle image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7f0bf9e16dd1506e/69887b44bc6cfcbb973db7ca/trump10.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [2016 Election](/tag/2016-election/) ## 2016 Election Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Republican Debate Beats Trump Rally in Ratings Battle by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 13, 2023 7:31 PM CUTPublished: Jan 29, 2016 3:13 PM CUT  Donald Trump listens during a campaign event at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Jan. 28, 2016. Donald Trump listens during a campaign event at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Jan. 28, 2016.Patrick T. Fallon—Bloomberg/Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 13, 2023 7:31 PM CUTPublished: Jan 29, 2016 3:13 PM CUT Republican frontrunner Donald Trump hosted a rally for veterans instead of attending [Thursday night’s debate](http://time.com/4199392/republican-debate-ted-cruz-donald-trump/ "undefined")—but [more people tuned in to watch the debate](http://money.cnn.com/2016/01/29/media/republican-debate-ratings-donald-trump/index.html?iid=hp-stack-dom "undefined") than to watch the Donald, according to ratings data. More than 12.4 million people turned their televisions to Fox News to watch the debate, according to analyst Nielsen. Though viewership is down compared to most earlier debates, Fox got more eyeballs than the two networks that carried the Trump rally combined: the two networks, CNN and MSNBC, reportedly earned about a quarter of the ratings Fox did, according to CNN. It’s impossible to say whether Trump’s presence [would have boosted the debate ratings](http://time.com/4199467/gop-debate-donald-trump "undefined"), but the candidate was not in two minds about it: > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/693171827363991553) The debate was once again dominated Thursday night television, beating out all other broadcasts that night and dominating the conversation online. On Twitter some 221,000 people were tweeting about the event in the U.S. and those were seen 162.8 million times, according to Twitter TV impressions data from Nielsen. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who [had a tough time](http://time.com/4199392/republican-debate-ted-cruz-donald-trump/ "undefined") in Trump’s absence, was the most mentioned candidate of the night as his last name was mentioned in 110,000 tweets about the debate. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4199653/republican-debate-trump-rally-ratings/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4199653/republican-debate-trump-rally-ratings/"},"headline":"Republican Debate Beats Trump Rally in Ratings Battle","datePublished":"2016-01-29T15:13:01.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T19:31:49.000Z","description":"Fox News debate got more viewers than the Trump rally on cable news","url":"https://time.com/4199653/republican-debate-trump-rally-ratings/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election topic","Donald Trump","trump","Republican debate"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7f0bf9e16dd1506e/69887b44bc6cfcbb973db7ca/trump10.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7f0bf9e16dd1506e/69887b44bc6cfcbb973db7ca/trump10.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Presidential Candidate Donald Trump Holds Event To Benefit Veterans Organizations","caption":"Presidential Candidate Donald Trump Holds Event To Benefit Veterans Organizations","creditText":"Patrick T. 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