Here are the ratings for the Democrat debates, and how they compare to the GOP in 2015

The second night of Democratic debates broke a record in the ratings, but still fell short of the massive viewership for the GOP debate in 2015 with then-candidate Donald Trump.

NBC News said Friday that the second day of debates garnered more than 18.1 million viewers across three networks, smashing the ratings record for a Democratic primary debate.

The previous record was made in October 2015 when 15.8 million viewers tuned into a Democratic debate with Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie (I-Vt.) as the frontrunners.

That still falls very short of the record set by the Republican primary debate in August 2015 when then-candidate Donald Trump battled the other GOP presidential hopefuls. That debate garnered a whopping 24 million viewers for Fox News.

The first night of the Democratic debates had even lower ratings, with 15.3 million viewers. That debate had just one frontrunner, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), while the second night had Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden.

Many Democrats voiced sentiments of disappointment in the debate which featured a lot of squabbling and a poor performance by the leading frontrunner, Joe Biden. A dispirited Van Jones on CNN called it a bad night for Democrats and a bad night for Joe Biden.

Others placed their hopes on a standout performance by Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) who successfully attacked Biden for his past record on forced busing.

Here's more on the ratings round-up:

Second Night Of Democratic Debates Breaks TV Recordwww.youtube.com