Though Republican candidates and many observers complained about the length of CNN’s three-hour GOP presidential debate on Wednesday, it seems the viewers didn’t mind that much.
CNN.com reported Thursday that there was a dip in ratings in the third hour of the debate, but only a modest one.
The whole debate averaged about 23 million viewers, an all-time record for CNN. Peak viewership was in the 9 p.m. hour, about halfway through the event, with 24.7 million, according to CNN.com. In the final hour, viewership dropped just a bit to 22.5 million. When the debate started at 8 p.m. EST, 20.7 million were watching.
Wednesday on MSNBC, GOP frontrunner Donald Trump said that the length of the debate was “unacceptable.”
CNN President Jeff Zucker, however, reportedly said right after the debate that it was “exactly how long we wanted it to be…”
