CNN hosted the first 2024 presidential debate Thursday evening, and the network has reason to celebrate.

Nearly 48 million viewers tuned in to watch former President Trump (R) debate President Joe Biden (D) from the CNN Atlanta studios.

The event moderated by Jake Tapper and Dana Bash was the highest-rated event in CNN history. Additionally, the 90-minute debate was the most-watched non-sports television program of 2024 thus far.

The 47.9 million viewers is a combination — according to Nielsen — of viewers watching on CNN, MSNBC, NewsNation, Newsmax, and Fox News, as well as ABC, PBS, FOX, Scripps News, and Spectrum News.

According to Nielsen, just over 9 million watched between CNN, HLN, and CNN Espanol. an additional 8.8 million watched on Fox News, with 3.4 million watching on the FOX broadcast network and an additional 372,000 viewing the debate on Fox Business Network. 8.7 million viewed the event on ABC. Meanwhile, MSNBC saw an average audience of 3.97 million.

An additional 30 million views were seen as CNN simulcast the debate on YouTube. The event was also the largest audience on record for CNN Max, the network’s streaming home inside the Max streaming platform.

According to a post on social media from FOX President for Insights & Analytics Michael Mulvihill, West Palm Beach — the current home of President Donald Trump — was the highest-rated market Thursday.

Pittsburgh, Minneapolis, Atlanta, Orlando, Philadelphia, Hartford, Milwaukee, New York, and Detroit were the other top 10 markets.

Cable news is riding high Friday after near-universal praise for CNN and its production of the first presidential debate. Former CNN host Brian Stelter isn’t surprised by the praise.

In an interview with TVNewser, which Stelter founded 20 years ago, he was asked about how cable news channels have covered the 2024 election thus far. He had no reservations about the way the race for the White House between former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden has been covered.

“I have concerns about the election as many others do. But you know what I’m not concerned about? I’m not concerned about the integrity of the networks,” Stelter said. “They are going to report the truth about the election result, even if they can’t control what comes next. That’s why I love their craft so much.

“At its worst, TV news is incredibly damaging; it’s capable of stoking fear, confusing people and spreading hate. But at its best, there’s nothing like it. TV news has the ability to connect and reassure people and allow them to form incredible personal connections to anchors and reporters.”

Stelter added that he believes in the future of cable news because of it’s ability to reach millions.

“I’m hopeful about the future of TV news is that it has the capacity to connect the country and connect the world like no other medium,” he concluded.

Fox News host Sean Hannity has never been shy in his disdain for CNN anchor Jake Tapper. However, he couldn’t deny that Tapper and Dana Bash were good debate moderators.

During the post-debate coverage on Fox News, Hannity gave Tapper and Bash credit, with a backhanded compliment in the process.

“In fairness to fake news CNN, Fake Jake, and Fake Dana, they put aside their prejudice, their hatred towards Donald Trump for the night, and they actually asked questions and waited for answers,” said Hannity. “I thought they managed the debate fairly well, something I didn’t expect, considering we’ve been playing the tape of them trashing Donald Trump for many years. So — I guess — credit for one night.”

Many in the news media gave props to Tapper and Bash for their performances Thursday evening. The pair received heavy criticism for their previous coverage of former President Donald Trump in the days and weeks leading up to Thursday’s debate.