CNN Gives Candidates the Most Rope While FOX Has the Tightest Leash at GOP Debates

FOX debate moderators speak at a 65 percent higher rate than those at CNN

The Republican presidential debate season may have wrapped up Wednesday evening with the CNN-moderated gathering in Mesa, Arizona.

That debate, moderated by Jon King, continued a season-long pattern for the network of a relatively laissez-faire approach to the debates.

Let the candidates talk.

A Smart Politics study of the 17 debates conducted since the field first peaked at eight major candidates last fall finds a stark contrast between the networks in their role as moderators, with FOX moderators speaking 65 percent more than those at CNN.

The moderators for the six debates conducted by CNN since September (which alternated between Wolf Blitzer, Jon King, and Anderson Cooper), spoke for only 15.9 percent of the candidate-moderator share of the broadcast – less than any other media outlet.

By contrast, the moderators at the three FOX debates conducted during the last six months spoke for 26.2 percent of the time, with candidates at just 73.8 percent.

Overall, CNN debates saw candidates speak at a ratio of 5.12 minutes for every 1 minute of moderator speaking time.

At FOX candidates were allowed to speak for just 2.76 minutes for every 1 minute given to the moderators.

That translates into FOX moderators filling air time with an additional six minutes and 11 seconds of every hour of debate vis-à-vis those conducted by CNN.

Sandwiched in between these two networks were ABC (4.80 minutes for candidates to every 1 minute for moderators) and NBC (3.56 to 1).

The remaining debates hosted by Bloomberg / Washington Post (4.03 to 1), CBS / National Journal (3.38 to 1), and CNBC (2.91 to 1) averaged 3.42 to 1 collectively.

Candidate-Moderator Share of Speaking Time in 17 GOP Presidential Debates Since September by Network

Outlet	Candidates	Moderators	% Cand.	% Mod.	Ratio
CNN	461 min. 42 sec.	90 min. 14 sec.	84.1	15.9	5.12
ABC	137 min. 01 sec.	28 min. 32 sec.	82.8	17.2	4.80
NBC	188 min. 47 sec.	53 min. 05 sec.	78.1	21.9	3.56
Other*	196 min. 22 sec.	57 min. 22 sec.	77.5	22.5	3.42
FOX	208 min. 39 sec.	75 min. 38 sec.	73.8	26.2	2.76

* Other media outlets include those which hosted just one debate during this span: Bloomberg/Washington Post, CNBC, and CBS/National Journal. Data compiled by Smart Politics.

Of the 17 debates conducted since last September, CNN debates ranked #1 (Florida, January 26th), #2 (Nevada, October 18th), #3 (Washington, D.C., November 22nd), #4 (Arizona, February 22nd), #6 (South Carolina, January 19th), and #10 (Florida, September 12th) for the largest share of candidate speaking time.

CNN’s laissez-faire handling of the debates resulted in some of the bloodiest (and most memorable) moments on stage this primary season, such as the Romney-Perry battle in Nevada, the Romney-Gingrich bout in the last Florida debate, and the Romney-Santorum clash in Arizona on Wednesday.

(Perhaps the much-discussed and very slick “let’s-get-ready-to-rumble” roll out candidate profiles produced by CNN introducing their debates were a sign of things to come.)

The three FOX debates, meanwhile, ranked at the bottom at #13 (South Carolina, January 16th), #16 (Iowa, December 15th), and #17 (Florida, September 22nd) for candidate speaking time.

Candidate-Moderator Share of Speaking Time by Debate Since September

Rank	Debate	Outlet	Cand.*	Mod.*	% Cand.	% Mod.	Ratio
1	FL #4	CNN	4,913	812	86.2	13.8	6.05
2	NV	CNN	4,563	801	85.3	14.7	5.70
3	DC	CNN	4,518	843	85.2	14.8	5.36
4	AZ	CNN	4,771	897	84.3	15.7	5.32
5	NH #3	ABC	3,989	764	83.9	16.1	5.22
6	SC #4	CNN	4,793	1,003	82.8	17.2	4.78
7	IA #2	ABC	4,232	948	81.7	18.3	4.46
8	FL #3	NBC	3,918	935	80.7	19.3	4.19
9	NH #2	Bloomberg / Washington Post	4,369	1,084	80.1	19.9	4.03
10	FL #1	CNN	4,144	1,058	80.3	19.7	3.92
11	SC #2	CBS / National Journal	3,326	984	77.5	22.5	3.38
12	CA	NBC / POLITICO	4,342	1,294	77.0	23.0	3.36
13	SC #3	FOX	4,270	1,316	76.6	23.4	3.24
14	NH #4	NBC	3,067	956	76.2	23.8	3.21
15	MI	CNBC	4,087	1,374	75.0	25.0	2.97
16	IA #3	FOX	4,374	1,647	72.6	27.4	2.66
17	FL #2	FOX	3,875	1,575	72.1	27.9	2.46
		Total	71,551	18,291	79.9	20.1	3.91

* Denotes number of seconds. Data compiled by Smart Politics.

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