• by Wayne Friedman , August 25, 2023

Without Donald Trump, the first Presidential Republican Primary Debate for the 2024 Presidential election on Wednesday posted 12.8 million viewers on Fox News Media networks -- roughly half the result (25 million) of the first GOP Presidential debate, with Trump, in August 2016, also on Fox News.

This year's first debate -- without the former President and current candidate for the 2024 election -- aired on four Fox News Media networks/platforms: Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network, and streaming platforms Fox Nation and Fox News Digital.

Fox News Channel scored the bulk of the viewers with 11.1 million. Fox Business Network pulled in 1.7 million viewers. Fox News Digital scored 200,000 average minute viewers  and over 125 million views for the day and during the debate, according to Adobe Analytics.

From 9 to 11 p m., other TV news networks were far behind -- MSNBC, 1.7 million; CNN; 754,000.

In 2016, nine of 12 Republican Presidential Debates --featuring Trump and other candidates -- topped the current 12.8 million mark reach on Wednesday.

This ranged from a high of 25 million for the first GOP debate on Fox News Channel (August 6, 2015) to the eighth one on ABC, which earned 13.2 million (February 6, 2016). 

Lower-rated GOP debates came in at 12.5 million for Fox News Channel (January 28, 2016); 11.9 million, CNN (March 10, 2016); and 11.1 million, Fox Business News (January 14, 2016).

The second debate on Fox News Channel (January 28, 2016) -- without Trump -- averaged 12.5 million viewers. Fox News Media says this year's results bested 70% of all 2016 and 2020 presidential primary debates.