• by Wayne Friedman , September 29, 2023

The second Republican Presidential debate dropped 26% to 9.5 million viewers, according to Nielsen, across Fox News Channel, Fox Business, Univision and streaming platforms.

The two-hour telecast pulled in 6.69 million viewers for Fox News Channel, 1.82 million for Fox Business Network, and 813,000 for Univision. 

Linear TV networks pulled in a total of 9.3 million, with digital and streaming viewership amounting to 200,000, per Adobe Analytics.

The first GOP Presidential debate this season totaled a collective 12.8 million viewers -- 11.1 million for For News Channel and 1.7 million for Fox Business.

Samba TV says 4.1 million U.S. households watched the second GOP debate -- down 39% from the first debate. On average, households spent a total of 59 minutes watching the most recent two hour event, down 24% from the first (78 minutes).

Samba says more liberal-leaning households watched the second debate than conservative households by a margin of 68%. 

Top advertisers for the two-hour event on Fox networks, according to EDO Ad EnGage, included Tunnel To Towers Foundation, TikTok, Christian Healthcare Ministries, Acellus Learning Accelerator, Prevagen, Bass Pro Shops, American Edge Project, Voya Financial, Defending Democracy Together, ClearChoice, and Aspen Dental.

Total national advertising spend for the two-hour debate totaled $611,630 on Fox cable networks and $235,700 on Univision, according to EDO Ad EnGage.