The first Republican primary debate of the 2020 cycle was held in Milwaukee on Wednesday night, attracting 11 million viewers on Fox News. Candidates scrambled to reach the RNC's thresholds to make the stage, and a mad dash for donors and a flurry of last-minute polls marked the days leading up to the event. The average viewership for Democratic debates in the 2020 cycle was 11.5 million viewers, compared to 8 million viewers in 2015 and 2016. This indicates the level of interest in the upcoming election and will be interesting to see how the viewership of the debates changes as the election draws closer.