Early and unofficial Nielsen ratings on Thursday night's Democratic presidential primary debate well exceeded 10 million viewers, far above other programs on TV that night, CNN reports.
Why it matters: Though the official numbers are set to release Friday afternoon, the preliminary numbers show that interest in the primary process is higher than past primaries.
Context: The third Democratic primary debate ahead of the 2016 election averaged only 8 million total viewers, but ABC held that debate on a Saturday night, a traditionally low-viewing night for networks.
- The first round of the debates in June averaged 16.7 million viewers over the 2 nights.
- The second round in July on CNN averaged 9.7 million viewers over the 2 nights.
Of note: With an unofficial 11.4 household rating, Thursday's debate ranked just behind the record-setting night 2 of the June debate, which had 18.1 million viewers.
Between the lines: ABC's status as a broadcast network, Univision's involvement and all 10 of the top-polling candidates sharing the debate stage for the first time may have helped boost the numbers.
Yes, but: ABC may have had more viewers if it had not scheduled the debate on the same night as the NFL's Thursday Night Football.
Go deeper: The viral moments from last night's debate
