Thursday’s GOP debate drew 14.5 million on CNN and Telemundo

Five Republican presidential candidates gathered Thursday night for a final showdown before Super Tuesday.

According to overnight Nielsen ratings, 13.2 million watched on CNN and 1.3 million watched the Spanish-language broadcast on Telemundo.

For perspective’s sake, the most recent Democratic debate, on PBS and CNN, had a combined 6.3 rating. The debate handily beat another televised competition, “American Idol”, which had about 8.7 million viewers.

As you watch tonight’s debate (at 8:30 p.m. EST on CNN or CNN.com), don’t be embarrassed to feel melancholic or nostalgic or whatever-it’s one of the last times what remains of our stupid gang will be together on one stage before Trump wins the nomination and outlaws both free thought and stages.

The fact that these debates continue to draw large numbers of viewers suggests that voter interest in the campaign remains quite high even if it isn’t quite as high as it was when people tuned in for the early debates that garnered in excess of 20 million viewers.

The other Republican debates so far this year have averaged 11 million (on Fox Business in mid January) and 12.5 million (on Fox News in late January). The network will also provide a live stream of the debate on CNN.com’s home page and across mobile platforms, available to all users without having to log in.

It will also be the third GOP debate hosted by CNN, though not the last: There is another CNN debate scheduled for March 10 at the University of Miami.