Not surprisingly, Wednesday night's Republican Presidential Debate on CNN garnered record-setting ratings , although initial figures indicate that the total viewership numbers may have been slightly below those of August's debate on Fox News Channel: Wednesday's prime time GOP debate averaged 23.1 million viewers, making it the most-watched program in CNN's history. These are NFL-level ratings - affirming that the Donald Trump fueled Republican debate slate is one of the most popular television shows of the year.