More than 14 million people tuned in Thursday for the clash of 10 presidential candidates in Houston on ABC News and Univision, the second-largest audience to date for a Democratic primary debate.

Only the NBC News debate in June, which drew 18.1 million viewers on its second night, outranked it. And total viewership on Thursday was likely far higher, since Nielsen figures do not count online audiences and livestreams.

Broadcasts of primary debates are, foremost, a civic service, offering voters an unexpurgated view of the candidates. But they also serve as tent pole events for the media organizations that sponsor them, a chance to showcase journalism and burnish the brand in front of some of the biggest audiences in news.

Next month, a newcomer is joining the debate game: The New York Times.

The paper said on Friday that it planned to co-host, with CNN, next month’s matchup in Westerville, Ohio, the fourth debate of the Democratic nominating contest. A pair of CNN anchors, Anderson Cooper and Erin Burnett, will share moderating duties with The Times’s national editor, Marc Lacey.