Update: The final debate numbers are in, and they ticked up: 51.3 million people watched Thursday night’s debate. CNN drew the largest audience in the final numbers, with 9.53 million overall viewers, while Fox News placed second with 9.27 million viewers.

See our report on the early numbers below.

The ratings are in for CNN’s Thursday debate between President Joe Biden and Donald Trump, and they are the biggest in the network’s history.

CNN announced on Friday that the debate moderated by Jake Tapper and Dana Bash brought in a whopping 48 million viewers on television, making it CNN’s highest-rated program in its history. It was also the network’s largest live-streamed event. There were a number of ways to watch the debate with other networks like Fox News and MSNBC simulcasting. The event also livestreamed through the Max streaming service.

According to early Nielsen ratings, CNN’s debate brought in 47.9 million viewers, including 12.6 million in the key 25-54 age demographic. The network announced it was the biggest day on record for both CNN and Max, doubling the last record. Thursday’s debate was broadcast from CNN’s studios in Atlanta, Georgia.

The total television viewers is still a far cry from past debates. The first debate between Trump and Hillary Clinton in 2016 brought in a record 84 million watchers while Trump’s first debate with Biden in 2020 drew 73 million.

Not everybody was watching through CNN and its companion platforms. A total of 8.7 million watched the debate on CNN, with three million viewers in the 25-54 demo. When counted with companion networks HLN and CNNE, a total of 9.04 million watched the debate with approximately 50,000 tuning into CNNE and more than 250,000 at HLN.

Over on Fox News, 8.8 million watched the debate. Nearly 13 million tuned into Fox when adding numbers gained through all Fox platforms. Just under four million tuned into MSNBC, but NBC Universal brought in over nine million viewers across NBC News, MSNBC, and Telemundo. A broadcast on ABC News also drew 8.7 million. A combined 11.4 million watched the debate through CNN, Max, HLN, and CNNE.

The network further revealed that there were 30 million live starts of the debate either through CNN’s own feed or YouTube. On CNN’s digital platforms, the event matched their highest streamed event, hitting 2.3 million concurrent viewers approximately an hour into the debate.

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