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AP Photo Fox Business to stream GOP debate for free

Fox Business Network is opening up access to its Republican debate scheduled for Tuesday.

The debate will be streamed for free on Foxbusiness.com, without the need to be a cable TV subscriber.

While CNN streamed its Republican and Democratic debates for free online, both Fox News and CNBC restricted online streaming access to pay-TV subscribers, limiting the potential viewership on platforms other than the TV set. CBS News, the first broadcast network to host a primary debate, is also planning to livestream the Democratic debate on Nov. 15 for free.

Opening up access to streamers can make a difference: During its Democratic debate, CNN at one point had nearly 1 million concurrent viewers on its livestream.

In addition, Fox Business is making itself more widely available for a number of its current pay-TV partners, including DirecTV, Suddenlink, Mediacom and the NCTC, letting subscribers who don’t normally get Fox Business have access to the channel for the debate. The move basically moves Fox Business from a premium tier to a lower tier for a temporary period of time. That effectively widens Fox Business' distribution and its potential pool of viewers. Fox Business is available in just over 74 million homes, according to Nielsen.

That move may help it when the ratings come in Nov. 11. CNBC drew an average of 14 million viewers for its Republican debate last month, but it was up against the World Series, which likely sucked away potential viewers.

Where CNBC had an advantage is reach: The channel is distributed in just over 93 million homes, according to Nielsen, almost 20 million more than Fox Business. Fox Business won’t have any major sporting events to contend with next week, however, and by expanding its distribution with existing partners, it can try to cut that gap.

Still, by expanding its distribution and streaming for free online, Fox Business puts itself in a position where it is almost assured to have the most viewers for any program in its eight-year history.

