The first Republican presidential debate is shaping up to be the most-watched primary debate in history — for either party.
A total of 24 million viewers tuned into Fox News Channel for the debate, 7.9 million of those were in FNC's target audience demographic of adults, aged 25 to 54 years old, according to Deadline.
For context, the first Republican debate of the 2012 campaign drew 3.2 million viewers for FNC.
Big numbers were expected for the debate. Earlier, the New York Daily News reported that early Nielsen numbers revealed that the debate earned a 16.0 or a total of 16% of U.S. homes with a television were tuned into the debate on FNC.
According to the newspaper, CNN reported that the highest-rated Republican primary debates in 2011 and 2012 were both watched by 5% of U.S. homes with a TV.
The tripling of that number by Thursday's debates is being attributed to Donald Trump's participation. The real estate mogul has been leading in the polls amid several controversies.
Additionally, a Fox News representative told the paper that so many people tried to watch the debate online that the "overwhelming demand caused server issues in the debate live stream."
CNN and CNBC will air the next Republican presidential primary debates on September 16 and October 28, respectively.
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