--- title: Donald Trump Helps Drive GOP Debate to Record TV Ratings description: An estimated 10 million viewers tuned in canonical: https://time.com/3989007/gop-debate-ratings-donald-trump/ author: Victor Luckerson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-07T15:59:23.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T10:00:23.528Z article:section: Politics og:title: GOP Debate Attracts Record TV Audience og:description: An estimated 10 million viewers tuned in og:url: https://time.com/3989007/gop-debate-ratings-donald-trump/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8d2577c59d7820bf/69885e515f570f7df8b1cce8/republican-debate-hillary-clinton.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Republican presidential candidate Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker appears on the large video screen hanging abouve the first prime-time presidential debate hosted by FOX News and Facebook at the Quicken Loans Arena August 6, 2015 in Cleveland, Ohio. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: GOP Debate Attracts Record TV Audience twitter:description: An estimated 10 million viewers tuned in twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8d2577c59d7820bf/69885e515f570f7df8b1cce8/republican-debate-hillary-clinton.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # GOP Debate Attracts Record TV Audience by [Victor Luckerson](/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Aug 7, 2015 3:59 PM CUT  Republican presidential candidate Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker appears on the large video screen hanging abouve the first prime-time presidential debate hosted by FOX News and Facebook at the Quicken Loans Arena August 6, 2015 in Cleveland, Ohio. Republican presidential candidate Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker appears on the large video screen hanging abouve the first prime-time presidential debate hosted by FOX News and Facebook at the Quicken Loans Arena August 6, 2015 in Cleveland, Ohio.Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images by [Victor Luckerson](/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Aug 7, 2015 3:59 PM CUT The Republican debate Thursday night appears to be the most-watched primary debate ever, according to early viewership data from Nielsen. CNN [reports](http://money.cnn.com/2015/08/07/media/gop-debate-fox-news-ratings/index.html "undefined") that the debate between 10 Republican candidates for President on Fox News was watched by 16% of U.S. TV households. That translates to about 10 million total viewers. The highest-rated Republican debates during the 2012 election cycle were watched by about 5% of households, and the more widely viewed Democratic primary debates between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in 2008 were still never watched by more than 10% of households. Viewership was likely driven by Donald Trump, who has whipped up an avalanche of media coverage and is leading primary polls. CNN will air another debate in September, and NBC will air one in October. \[[_CNN Money_](http://money.cnn.com/2015/08/07/media/gop-debate-fox-news-ratings/index.html "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3989007/gop-debate-ratings-donald-trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3989007/gop-debate-ratings-donald-trump/"},"headline":"GOP Debate Attracts Record TV Audience","datePublished":"2015-08-07T15:59:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T10:00:23.528Z","description":"An estimated 10 million viewers tuned in","url":"https://time.com/3989007/gop-debate-ratings-donald-trump/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election topic","Donald Trump","fox news","Debates","Republican debate","GOP Debate"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8d2577c59d7820bf/69885e515f570f7df8b1cce8/republican-debate-hillary-clinton.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Victor Luckerson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/victor-luckerson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8d2577c59d7820bf/69885e515f570f7df8b1cce8/republican-debate-hillary-clinton.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Republican presidential candidate Wisconsin Gov. 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