13 million Americans tuned in for cable network’s first Republican debate – while Tucker Carlson’s X interview with Donald Trump gets 238 million ‘views’ … and counting

The Republican primary debate hosted by Fox was easily beaten by the person who wasn’t there, Donald Trump, as the former president’s interview with Tucker Carlson on X easily drew more eyes.

Fox reported Thursday that nearly 13 million people watched the first Republican debate, which airs Wednesday from 9-11 p.m. ET.

Carlson’s interview with Trump had, as of 6 p.m. EST Thursday, received 238 million “views.” However, this is not a direct comparison. X counts a “view” each time a user scrolls through the video, even without watching anything.

Fox said Thursday the debate was “the most-watched non-sports cable TV event of the year” — but cable news executives are sure to be confused by the social media numbers.

Trump himself shared an article on Truth Social claiming his interview with Carlson was the most-watched interview ever recorded, beating Oprah Winfrey’s interview with Michael Jackson in 1993, which reached 62.3 million views. .

Trump avoided the official Republican debate on Fox News to sit down with Carlson on the former Fox News host’s Show X.

Winfrey’s interview, DC Applicant was noted, was itself bested by Carlson’s interview with Andrew Tate in July, which has been viewed more than 107 million times.

Trump also gloated over the views on social media, writing, “231,000,000 views, and still counting. Biggest social media video EVER, more than double the Super Bowl!’

The success of Carlson’s interview with Trump has reignited the debate that began after he landed on Elon Musk’s Twitter: Are cable news networks facing an existential threat from X and D? other social media platforms?

The Fox News Network, the most-watched cable news channel in the United States, averaged about 1.1 million daily viewers in the second quarter of 2023 and 2.2 million in prime time.

Carlson’s Fox show, his most-watched program, averaged about 3.3 million viewers in the weeks before it was scrapped.

Critics say X’s metrics aren’t a reliable indicator of success, and point out that engagement – likes, shares and comments – was still below 1 million as of Thursday morning.

Viewers are also counted more than once if they watch the video multiple times, while Fox will know exactly how many people watched the debate.

But for comparison, none of Fox News’ X-posts on its own debate had more than 110,000 views on Thursday morning. And this, despite the fact that the network has 24 million subscribers, against 9.7 million for Carlson.

In comparison to other televised political matchups, Trump’s first presidential debate with Hillary Clinton in 2016 drew 84 million US viewers, while his showdown with Biden in 2020 drew 73 million.

Evan Nierman, CEO of global crisis PR firm Red Banyan, told DailyMail.com: “There is no denying that the Trump-Carlson meeting was a success and a huge win for Trump and Carlson. There is no other way to see it.

“The fact that Trump can sit down with Tucker Carlson adds insult to injury for Fox, as the channel’s former prime-time hero has all but managed to compete with them.”

The numbers from his interview with Trump could also dispel doubts about Carlson’s X-show ability to bring in anything close to the salary he was earning at Fox News. He reportedly received more than $20 million a year before he was fired.

Revenue estimates for Show X vary wildly and there is no official figure. At the top of the ladder, it’s been suggested he could earn $4 per thousand views — that would mean Trump’s interview alone would bring in almost $1 million.

Trump asked why he should take the stage when his rivals were “yelling at me and shouting questions at me” during a debate. The other eight Republican presidential candidates squared off in a debate on Fox News.

Wednesday night’s show with Trump will also delight Elon Musk, who bought Twitter for $44 billion last October before embarking on the radical rebranding X.

Carlson’s next best performer, his controversial encounter with Tristan Tate, has racked up 100 million views, which would equate to $400,000. Even after X took a percentage of the loot, the amount would still be huge.

X also has a system that shares advertising revenue with verified users, which would further boost Carlson’s revenue, and it also has at least one third-party advertising deal worth over $1 million.

Wednesday night’s show with Trump will also delight Elon Musk, who bought Twitter for $44 billion last October before embarking on the radical rebranding X.

The company has faced a drop in advertising revenue, but this will prove to advertisers that it remains a platform worth investing in.

Nierman added, “Elon Musk is going to see what Elon Musk always sees, which is opportunity and ways to monetize.

“He clearly hasn’t shunned politics, in fact, he’s been heading there since he took over Twitter and X.

“It (shows) that his program can beat a major player in the political fray.”