GOP Iowa Debate Nabs 5 Million Viewers

The return of NFL football, a Republican presidential debate from Iowa and two reality shows mixed it up on the second Thursday in August.

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.

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