More Than 15 Million Tuned In for CBS’s Democratic Debate

The nearly 16 million people who tuned in on Tuesday witnessed an unruly two-hour showdown. The seven Democratic presidential candidates spent much of the night jockeying for airtime and talking over one another, with the forum at times descending into mayhem. The moderators of the debate — the “CBS This Morning” co-host Gayle King and the “CBS Evening News” anchor Norah O’Donnell — were criticized for struggling to maintain control of the candidates.

The Democratic debates have found a ratings resurgence in recent weeks. In the five debates that were staged from October to the first week of February, interest had leveled off to about an average of about seven million viewers.

But the introduction last week of Michael R. Bloomberg to the stage as the race entered a pivotal juncture seemed to reignite interest.

The Feb. 19 debate in Las Vegas had 19.7 million viewers, the highest total ever for a Democratic primary debate. A debate in June last year, the second of the election season, recorded 18.1 million viewers. The viewership for the debate on Tuesday matched that of the first debate, in June 2019.

After almost back-to-back debates, viewers will now get a reprieve for several weeks. The next debate is scheduled for March 15 on CNN. By then, votes will have been cast in South Carolina and Super Tuesday states, and the number of candidates left in the primary race could be significantly smaller.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/26/business/media/democratic-debate-cbs-ratings.html