Fox News Channel pulled in more than 5.053 million total viewers and 1.43 million adult 25-54 viewers from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. for the GOP debate from Iowa -- easily the most-viewed debate of the year. By comparison, the GOP debate on May 5 drew 3.258 million total viewers and 854,000 among 25-54 viewers.
By comparison, a Fox News GOP debate on Oct. 21, 2007 drew 2,367,000 total viewers and 697,000 adult 25-54 viewers. About a month after that, a Nov. 28th GOP debate on CNN took 4,292,000 total viewers and 1,409,000 adult 25-54 viewers.
But the Republican talkfest wasn't the biggest TV show of the night. That belonged to another cable network show, MTV's "Jersey Shore," which pulled down a big 7.4 million total viewers. The MTV show also earned a dominant 7.1 rating among viewers 12-34.
CBS' "Big Brother," which aired from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m., pulled in 7.12 million and grabbed the highest 18-49 ratings among the broadcasters for the night, with a 2.7 rating/8 share.
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The only other show of the night to top a 2.0 rating among 18-49 viewers was the Fox finale of "So You Think You Can Dance?" with a 2.0/6 in 18-49 viewers and and 6.13 million viewers at 8 p.m. The show was down 9% versus its finale of a year ago.
A number of NFL pre-season games returned on Thursday night. All were regional aired television events. Ratings were not available at press time.
ABC offered up a full night of originals on Thursday -- all earning modest but not stellar performances: "Wipeout," with a 1.4/5 among 18-49; "Expedition Impossible" with a 1.1/3; and "Rookie Blue" at a 1.1/3.