Primary Debates and Forums

Thursday, August 6, 2015 at 9:00-11:00 p.m. E.T.

Post-Debate  |  Video  |  Transcript (2)

Sponsors:  FOX News Channel and Facebook in conjunction with the Ohio Republican Party.

Candidates:  Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Mike Huckabee, John Kasich, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Donald Trump and Scott Walker.  [10 total]

Moderator:  Special Report anchor Bret Baier, The Kelly File anchor Megyn Kelly and FOX News Sunday host Chris Wallace.

Audience:  About 4,500.  Tickets were available through the Ohio Republican Party.  Individuals could apply at Debate@OhioGOP.org from July 24 to 5:00 p.m. on July 31, providing first and last name, email address and number of tickets requested (four maximum). 

Broadcast:  FOX News Channel, as well as on the network’s other platforms, including FOX News Radio, FOX News Mobile and FOXNews.com.

Format:  Candidates had one minute to answer each question and 30 seconds for rebuttals.

Overview:  All eyes were on Donald Trump.  The moderators seemed to have it in for him.  Brett Baier's first question to the candidates was, "Is there anyone on stage, and can I see hands, who is unwilling tonight to pledge your support to the eventual nominee of the Republican party and pledge to not run an independent campaign against that person."  Trump was the only one to raise his hand, drawing boos from the audience.  However, it was a later exchange which reverberated in the days following the debate.  When Megyn Kelly asked about Trump's remarks on women, Trump joked about Rosie O'Donnell, then explained, "I don't frankly have time for total political correctness" and "oftentimes it's fun, it's kidding."  In a post-debate interview on CNN, Trump made a controversial statement about Kelly, drawing more criticism. 

Trump's presence on the stage provided a big boost to ratings.  Nielsen Media Research reported an average of 24 million viewers watched the debate making it, according to FOX, "the highest-rated primary debate in television history as well as the highest-rated non-sports cable telecast of all time in total viewers."

L-R: Gilmore, Graham, Jindal, Perry, Santorum, Fiorina and Pataki.                                                                          FOX News Channel

Thursday, August 6, 2015 at 5:00 p.m. E.T.

Post-Debate  |  Video  |  Transcript

Sponsors:  FOX News Channel, Facebook and the Ohio Republican Party.

Candidates:  Carly Fiorina, Jim Gilmore, Lindsey Graham, Bobby Jindal, George Pataki, Rick Perry, and Rick Santorum.  [7 total]

Moderator:  America’s Newsroom co-anchors Bill Hemmer and Martha MacCallum.

Audience:  Mostly empty.

Broadcast:  FOX News Channel, as well as on the network’s other platforms, including FOX News Radio, FOX News Mobile and FOXNews.com.

Format:  Scheduled for one hour with four commercial breaks, but ran longer (debate time without ads was 1:07:22).  Candidates had one minute to answer each question and 30 seconds for rebuttals.  One lightening round.  Closing statements.

Overview:  FOX News had originally planned just one debate limited to the top ten "in the five most recent national polls, as recognized by FOX News leading up to August 4th at 5 PM/ET."  Under pressure, on June 10, FOX announced the additional forum to be held in advance of the main debate. It was originally schedule to be 90 minutes, then pared to an hour, but allowed to run long.  This debate was dubbed the "kiddy table debate."  According to Nielsen Media Research via FOX this debate averaged 6.1 million total viewers.