![150917_EM_GOPDebate 150917_EM_GOPDebate](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/150917_em_gopdebate.jpg?quality=85&w=2400)
Nearly 23 million people tuned in to Wednesday night’s primetime GOP debate, breaking viewership records for host network CNN.
In fact, it shattered the records – according to CNN, the previous record-holder for viewership was a Larry King Live episode from 1993 with Al Gore and Ross Perot debating NAFTA. That episode clocked in at 16.8 million viewers. For an even starker comparison, CNN’s most-watched presidential primary debate before Wednesday was a Democratic debate in 2008, which got just 8.3 million viewers.
The CNN debate didn’t quite reach the viewership for the Fox debate in August, which averaged 24 million viewers.
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Breaking Down the 2024 Election Calendar
- How Nayib Bukele’s ‘Iron Fist’ Has Transformed El Salvador
- What if Ultra-Processed Foods Aren’t as Bad as You Think?
- How Ukraine Beat Russia in the Battle of the Black Sea
- Long COVID Looks Different in Kids
- How Project 2025 Would Jeopardize Americans’ Health
- What a $129 Frying Pan Says About America’s Eating Habits
- The 32 Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2024
Write to Tessa Berenson Rogers at tessa.Rogers@time.com