Trump bump for the Republican debate

Based on the buzz on social media, in the press, and at watercoolers across the country this morning, people expected ratings for Thursday night’s Republican primary debate to be high.

But no one expected them to be this big.

Fox News Channel posted an all-time high for the event. In fact, it became one of the most-watched programs of the summer on broadcast or cable.

The debate featuring the top 10 Republican candidates for the 2016 presidential nomination posted 24 million total viewers, according to Nielsen overnights, with about a third of that audience, 8 million, made up of the network’s target adults 25-54.

To put this in some perspective: That doubled the viewership FNC drew for the final debate between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama three years ago.

And it was about eight times more than the first Republican primary debate drew during the 2012 election.

The debate drew a 16 metered-market household rating, or about three times the highest-rated primary debate prior to this on FNC had ever drawn.

Certainly FNC benefited from being the only outlet to carry the debate, which ran from 9 to 11 p.m.

It was also the most-tweeted-about program on TV Thursday night, no small feat considering Jon Stewart also signed off from “The Daily Show” that same night.

For once, Donald Trump may be right when claiming he pumped up the ratings.

The billionaire, who led the polls going into the debate and dominated speaking time on the night, was clearly a big draw for viewers.

Fox News Channel’s moderators, who received good reviews for their efforts on Twitter, lobbed Trump some tough questions and called him out when his answers ventured into fantasyland, as so often happens with the former “Celebrity Apprentice” host.

Trump complained afterward that he’d been unfairly targeted.

But based on social media and other post-debate indicators, there were indeed many who wanted to see what he had to say.

Trump has been very critical of the current administration, especially on immigration, and said he’d build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico to help address the issue.

Tags: debate, debate social media, fox news channel, republican debate, trump, trump debate