NewsNation will host the fourth Republican presidential primary debate on Wednesday, December 6, from 8 to 10 p.m. ET. Megyn Kelly, host of The Megyn Kelly Show on SiriusXM, will moderate alongside Elizabeth Vargas, anchor of Elizabeth Vargas Reports on NewsNation, and Eliana Johnson, editor-in-chief of The Washington Free Beacon. 

The debate will take place at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. 

It will air live on NewsNation, which is owned by Nexstar, and will be simulcast in the Eastern and Central time zones on The CW, also owned by Nexstar. Viewers in the Mountain and Pacific time zones can watch live on NewsNation or see it delayed on their CW television affiliate from 7-9 p.m. MT and 8-10 p.m. PT. The debate will be live-streamed on NewsNationNow.com and on Rumble, and will also air live on SiriusXM Triumph channel 111. 

“All of us at NewsNation are incredibly honored to be hosting a presidential primary debate and to be part of what will be another historic election season,” said Sean Compton, Nexstar’s president of networks. “We are also extremely pleased to have the opportunity to introduce more Americans to NewsNation, a 24-hour national news network committed to delivering outstanding journalism and first-rate political coverage and analysis.” 

Kelly has moderated five GOP primary debates, including the first in the 2016 election cycle, in August 2015, when she was with Fox News. Donald Trump was critical of her moderation, telling CNN days later, “There was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.”

NBC hosted the third debate November 8. Trump has not shown up for any of them. 

Michael Corn, president of news at NewsNation, said the network’s “mission is to provide fair and unbiased news coverage, and that’s the way we will approach this important debate. We take this responsibility very seriously and are proud to help inform and educate voters and to contribute to the democratic process.”

ESPN rode its College Football Playoffs championship game coverage back to the top primetime ratings spot among cable networks last week, according to Nielsen.

ESPN averaged 4.1 million viewers to top all cable networks for the week of Jan. 11 to Jan. 17, besting last week's winner Fox News’ 2.0 million viewers, and HGTV and Disney’s 1.6 million watchers each, said Nielsen. TBS, TNT and Discovery all tied for fifth with 1.4 million viewers, while USA and Fox Business Network (tied with 1.3 million) and History (1.2 million) rounded out the top 10.

ESPN also swept all other major weekly ratings categories, including total day and adults 18-49. Nickelodeon was the top choice among kids 2 to 11 while Disney was tops among the 6 to 11 age group.

Most Watched Cable Shows During the Week of Jan. 11-17

Date      Show                                                                                                     Network              Total Viewers

1/11       CFP Title game Alabama/Clemson (8:27-11:45 pm)                                    ESPN                     25.6 million

1/11       CFP Title game Alabama/Clemson (11:45-12:27 am)                                  ESPN                     23.6 million

1/14       Republican Presidential Debate                                                                FBN                        11.0 million

1/11       CFP Post Game Show                                                                            ESPN                       9.0 million

1/11       CFP Pre-Game Show                                                                              ESPN                       8.0 million

1/15       Gold Rush                                                                                              Discovery                  4.0 million

1/14       Cavuto Coast To Coast                                                                            FBN                          3.9 million

1/12       State Of The Union Speech Analysis                                                        Fox News                  3.8 million

1/12       Fixer Upper                                                                                            HGTV                        3.8 million

1/11       SportsCenter                                                                                          ESPN                        3.6 million

Source: Nielsen

CNN was the most watched cable network in primetime last week, bolstered by its Republican Presidential debate coverage.

The cable news network averaged 2.7 million viewers for the week of Dec. 14 to Dec. 20, paced by the 18.1 million viewers who tuned in to see CNN’s coverage of the Dec. 15 Republican Presidential debate, according to Nielsen.

Sports-themed networks held the next two spots, with ESPN finishing second with 2.4 million viewers and NFL Network pulling into third with 1.8 million viewers. Holiday-themed programming helped push Hallmark Channel (2 million viewers) and ABC Family (1.9 million) into fourth and fifth place respectively.

Fox News and USA Network (tied with 1.7 million viewers), TBS (1.5 million), and Discovery Channel and TNT (tied with 1.4 million) rounded out the top 10 most watched networks for the week.

Fox News and Nickelodeon were the co-leaders among cable networks on a 24-hour basis, with Disney Channel a distant third, said Nielsen.

Most Watched Cable TV Shows During The Week Of Dec. 14-Dec. 20

DateShowNetworkTotal Viewers

12/15 Nevada GOP Debate                         CNN                            18.1 million

12/15 Nevada GOP Debate Pre-Show        CNN                            15.3 million

12/14 Monday Night Football NYG-Miami ESPN                           11.5 million

12/15 Anderson Cooper 360                      CNN                              9.1 million

12/19 Thursday Night Football (NYJ-Dal) NFLN                             7.4 million

12/17 Thursday Night Football (TB-STL)  NFLN                             5.9 million

12/15 Preliminary Nevada GOP Debate    CNN                              5.8 million

12/20 Movie: Christmas Land                     Hallmark                      4.2 million

12/14 WWE Monday Night Raw                 USA Network              4.0 million

12/19 Movie: A Christmas Melody             Hallmark                      3.9 million

Source: Nielsen

Fox News will televise its second Republican presidential primary debate on Jan. 28, the network announced Monday.

The debate from Des Moines, Iowa will be the first for Fox News since its record-breaking Aug. 6 debate, which drew a network record 24 million viewers.

Fox News Special Report anchor Bret Baier, The Kelly File anchor Megyn Kelly and FOX News Sunday host Chris Wallace will return as moderators for the Jan. 28 debate, the last contest among the candidates before the Iowa Caucus on Feb. 1.

The criteria for candidate entry to the debate will be announced closer to the date. Following the debate, FNC will present special live daytime and primetime programming from Iowa in the days leading up to the Iowa Caucus, said the network.

Fox Business Network’s Republican Presidential Debate telecast was a big hit on Twitter yesterday, drawing more than 1.1 million tweets last night, according to Nielsen.

The 1.19 million tweets for last night's debate reached a whopping 6 million unique Twitter users, according to Nielsen’s Twitter TV daily ratings, dwarfing the 72,000 tweets and 1.4 million unique Twitter users generated by second place finisher, NBC’ The Voice.

A total number of 13.5 million viewers tuned into the debate, co-sponsored by The Wall Street Journal.

Fox’s Scream Queens, ESPN’s 30 for 30 documentary and the CW’s The Flash rounded out the top five most social TV shows of the day, according to Nielsen.

The GOP Presidential debates continue to rack up record ratings for cable news networks.

CNN’s Wednesday night telecast of the second Republican Presidential Debate drew 22.9 million viewers, a record audience for the 24-hour news network, according to Nielsen Fast National ratings data.

The debate, which featured 11 GOP presidential candidates including front-runner Donald Trump,  beat out the former record of 16.8 million viewers generated by a November 1993 Larry King Live special featuring Ross Perot and Al Gore. CNN’s higest rated presidential debate was the Jan. 2008 California Democratic Debate which averaged 8.3 million viewers, according to the network.

CNN’s debate audience fell short of Fox News’ Aug. 6 telecast of the first Republican Presidential Debate, which drew 23.9 million viewers – a cable viewership record for a non-sports event.

The debate was a major hit on social media, drawing 2.4 million tweets and reaching a unique Twitter audience of more than 9 million users, according to Nielsen Twitter TV Ratings.

Fox News rode its record-setting coverage of the Republican Presidential Debate to an easy first place primetime ratings finish among all cable networks last week.

Fox News averaged 4.4 million viewers for the week of Aug. 3 to Aug. 9, easily besting Disney’s 1.7 million second-place finish, according to Nielsen. Fox News’ performance was paced by live coverage of the Aug. 6  Republican Presidential Debate, which drew 24 million viewers -- the biggest audience for a non-sports cable show in history, according to Nielsen.

In addition, Fox was the most-watched network among nearly all major audience demos, including adults 18-49. The network also garnered seven of the top 10 most watched shows for the week.

TNT and USA Network tied for third place with 1.5 million viewers each, followed by HGTV’s 1.4 million viewers.

History (1.3 million viewers) Discovery Channel (1.2 million); Adult Swim (1.1 million); FX (1.0 million) and Food Network (996,000) rounded out the top 10.

Fox News was also the dominant network on a 24-hour basis, averaging 1.6 million viewers, outdistancing Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, Adult Swim and Cartoon Network.

Most Watched Shows During The Week Of Aug. 3 to Aug. 9

DateProgramNetworkTotal Viewers

8/6     Republican Presidential Debate                  Fox News                    23.9 million

8/6     The Kelly File                                                 Fox News                    10.9 million

8/6     The O’Reilly Factor                                        Fox News                       6.5 million

8/6     Republican Presidential Debate (5.p.m.)   Fox News                       6.0 million

8/6     Special Report With Brett Baier                  Fox News                       4.5 million

8/3     Major Crimes                                                 TNT                                4.5 million

8/4     Rizzoli & Isles                                                 TNT                                4.2 million

8/6     Hannity                                                          Fox News                       4.1 million

8/6     On The Record W/Greta                              Fox News                       3.9 million

8/9     NASCAR Sprint Cup Race                             NBCSN                           3.9 million

Source: Nielsen

Viewers voted bigtime for Fox News’ Republican Presidential Primary Debate telecast, which drew a record 24 million total viewers.

The two-hour debate, which featured 10 Republican Presidential candidates as was moderated by Fox News journalists Bret Baier, Megyn Kelly and Chris Wallace, is the most watched, non-sports cable telecast of all time in total viewers, according to Fox.

The show’s 24 million viewers more than doubles the network’s previous high of 11.8 million total viewers generate during the 2012 Presidential Election, according to Fox.

ESPN’s Jan. 13 telecast of the Ohio State-Oregon College Football Playoff National Championship is the most watched cable show in the history of cable.

Fox News also drew 6.1 million viewers for its early Republican Presidential debate, making it the third-highest primary presidential debate ever for the network.