President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on Tuesday brought in an estimated roughly 24.1 million viewers across the major cable news networks and the top four broadcast news channels – with Fox News leading the pack for the second year in a row.
Nielsen estimated late on Wednesday that the total audience reached 27.3 million total viewers, a 29 percent drop from the previous year.
The early numbers showed a dip in viewers from 2022, which brought in some 38.2 million total viewers. 33.83 million of those viewers watched on the four main broadcast networks — ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox — and cable news networks Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC.
Fox News scored 4.69 million total viewers and 846,000 in the key 25-54 age demographic, which is heavily favored by advertisers. While Fox News led all of television in total viewers, ABC topped in the demo with 1.075 million viewers, while NBC came in second and Fox News landed third.
In total viewers, ABC came in second behind Fox News with 4.4 million viewers, followed by NBC’s 3.78 million total viewers. Fox News was down significantly from 2022, when it brought in 7.21 million viewers to lead all of television, ABC also dipped from its 6.3 million viewers last year.
On cable news, MSNBC came in second place with 3.55 million total viewers, which landed the network in fifth place overall. CNN brought in 2.39 million total viewers and a strong 646,000 demo viewers. MSNBC came in third on cable news in the demo with 496,000 viewers.
CNN’s total marks the network’s smallest audience for a State of the Union since 2014 — a 50 percent drop from last year’s 4.83 million total viewers.
Adobe Analytics also reported that unique device use increased 25 percent during the speech compared to 2022, which may help explain the overall decrease in viewers.
To put the ratings in historical context, Bill Clinton’s 1994 State of the Union averaged some 45.8 million total viewers, similar to Donald Trump’s SOTU in 2018, which averaged 45.55 million. George W. Bush’s post-9/11 address in 2002 raked in 51.77 million total viewers.
Editor’s note: This article was updated as more data became available
Here is a full breakdown of Tuesday’s cable news ratings by show:
Total Viewers (thousands)
ET | FNC | CNN | MSNBC | NEWSMAX | NEWSNATION |
6a | FOX AND FRIENDS: 933 |
CNN THIS MORNING: 292 |
MORNING JOE: 840 |
ROB CARSONS WHAT IN THE: 37 |
EARLY MORNING: 11 |
7a | FOX AND FRIENDS: 1254 |
CNN THIS MORNING: 383 |
— | WAKE UP AMERICA: 86 |
MORNING IN AMERICA: 33 |
8a | FOX AND FRIENDS: 1582 |
CNN THIS MORNING: 482 |
— | — | — |
9a | AMERICAS NEWSROOM: 1710 |
CNN NEWSROOM: 515 |
MORNING JOE: 852 |
NATIONAL REPORT: 147 |
— |
10a | AMERICAS NEWSROOM: 1742 |
CNN NEWSROOM: 612 |
JOSE DIAZ-BALART REPORTS: 600 |
— | NWSN LIVE W/ MARNI HUGHES: 26 |
11a | FAULKNER FOCUS, THE: 1651 |
AT THIS HOUR: 641 |
MSNBC REPORTS- LIVE: 508 |
— | — |
12p | OUTNUMBERED: 1734 |
INSIDE POLITICS: 574 |
ANDREA MITCHELL REPORTS: 471 |
JOHN BACHMAN NOW: 106 |
BLUE BLOODS: 76 |
1p | AMERICA REPORTS: 1470 |
CNN NEWSROOM: 547 |
CHRIS JANSING REPORTS: 506 |
— | BLUE BLOODS: 165 |
2p | AMERICA REPORTS: 1439 |
CNN NEWSROOM: 578 |
KATY TUR REPORTS: 591 |
AMERICAN AGENDA: 118 |
BLUE BLOODS: 223 |
3p | STORY, THE: 1577 |
CNN NEWSROOM: 611 |
HALLIE JACKSON REPORTS: 595 |
— | BLUE BLOODS: 248 |
4p | YOUR WORLD W/NEIL CAVUTO: 1538 |
LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER: 614 |
DEADLINE:WHITE HOUSE: 1245 |
CHRIS SALCEDO SHOW, THE: 148 |
BLUE BLOODS: 263 |
5p | FIVE, THE: 3402 |
LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER: 664 |
— | SPICER & CO: 113 |
NEWSNATION: RUSH HOUR: 103 |
6p | SPECIAL RPT W/BRET BAIER: 2582 |
SITUATION ROOM: 659 |
BEAT W/ARI MELBER: 1250 |
RECORD WITH GRETA VAN SUS: 131 |
NEWSNATION: RUSH HOUR: 63 |
7p | JESSE WATTERS PRIMETIME: 2921 |
ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT: 840 |
REIDOUT: 1201 |
ROB SCHMITT TONIGHT: 177 |
ON BALANCE W/ VITTERT: 44 |
8p | TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT: 3724 |
ANDERSON COOPER 360: 1239 |
MSNBC SPECIAL COVERAGE: 2286 |
ERIC BOLLING THE BALANCE: 163 |
CUOMO: 99 |
9p | STATE OF THE UNION 2023: 4695 [9:09 PM-10:21 PM] |
STATE OF THE UNION 2023: 2411 [9:08 PM-10:22 PM] |
STATE OF THE UNION ADD: 3569 [9:09 PM-10:21 PM] |
PRIME NEWS: 252 |
STATE OF THE UNION 2023: 97 |
10p | ST UNION/ANALYSIS: 4797 [10:22 PM-10:46 PM] |
STATE OF UNION ANALYSIS: 2227 [10:23 PM-10:46 PM] |
MSNBC SPECIAL COVERAGE: 3688 [10:22 PM-10:46 PM] |
GREG KELLY REPORTS: 302 |
— |
11p | HANNITY: 3035 [11:03 PM-11:59 PM] |
STATE OF UNION ANALYSIS: 1137 |
MSNBC SPECIAL COVERAGE: 2086 [11:02 PM-11:59 PM] |
ROB SCHMITT TONIGHT: 145 |
— |
25-54 Demo (thousands)
ET | FNC | CNN | MSNBC | NEWSMAX | NEWSNATION |
6a | FOX AND FRIENDS: 143 |
CNN THIS MORNING: 55 |
MORNING JOE: 117 |
ROB CARSONS WHAT IN THE: 0 |
EARLY MORNING: 4 |
7a | FOX AND FRIENDS: 178 |
CNN THIS MORNING: 84 |
— | WAKE UP AMERICA: 3 |
MORNING IN AMERICA: 7 |
8a | FOX AND FRIENDS: 176 |
CNN THIS MORNING: 107 |
— | — | — |
9a | AMERICAS NEWSROOM: 191 |
CNN NEWSROOM: 87 |
MORNING JOE: 93 |
NATIONAL REPORT: 24 |
— |
10a | AMERICAS NEWSROOM: 212 |
CNN NEWSROOM: 96 |
JOSE DIAZ-BALART REPORTS: 72 |
— | NWSN LIVE W/ MARNI HUGHES: 5 |
11a | FAULKNER FOCUS, THE: 220 |
AT THIS HOUR: 119 |
MSNBC REPORTS- LIVE: 67 |
— | — |
12p | OUTNUMBERED: 222 |
INSIDE POLITICS: 101 |
ANDREA MITCHELL REPORTS: 70 |
JOHN BACHMAN NOW: 6 |
BLUE BLOODS: 11 |
1p | AMERICA REPORTS: 204 |
CNN NEWSROOM: 95 |
CHRIS JANSING REPORTS: 71 |
— | BLUE BLOODS: 25 |
2p | AMERICA REPORTS: 178 |
CNN NEWSROOM: 96 |
KATY TUR REPORTS: 71 |
AMERICAN AGENDA: 7 |
BLUE BLOODS: 31 |
3p | STORY, THE: 197 |
CNN NEWSROOM: 94 |
HALLIE JACKSON REPORTS: 72 |
— | BLUE BLOODS: 17 |
4p | YOUR WORLD W/NEIL CAVUTO: 217 |
LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER: 109 |
DEADLINE:WHITE HOUSE: 127 |
CHRIS SALCEDO SHOW, THE: 13 |
BLUE BLOODS: 12 |
5p | FIVE, THE: 370 |
LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER: 132 |
— | SPICER & CO: 12 |
NEWSNATION: RUSH HOUR: 4 |
6p | SPECIAL RPT W/BRET BAIER: 314 |
SITUATION ROOM: 140 |
BEAT W/ARI MELBER: 115 |
RECORD WITH GRETA VAN SUS: 6 |
NEWSNATION: RUSH HOUR: 3 |
7p | JESSE WATTERS PRIMETIME: 367 |
ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT: 206 |
REIDOUT: 141 |
ROB SCHMITT TONIGHT: 13 |
ON BALANCE W/ VITTERT: 5 |
8p | TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT: 635 |
ANDERSON COOPER 360: 321 |
MSNBC SPECIAL COVERAGE: 299 |
ERIC BOLLING THE BALANCE: 29 |
CUOMO: 25 |
9p | STATE OF THE UNION 2023: 853 [9:09 PM-10:21 PM] |
STATE OF THE UNION 2023: 651 [9:08 PM-10:22 PM] |
STATE OF THE UNION ADD: 500 [9:09 PM-10:21 PM] |
PRIME NEWS: 35 |
STATE OF THE UNION 2023: 22 |
10p | ST UNION/ANALYSIS: 849 [10:22 PM-10:46 PM] |
STATE OF UNION ANALYSIS: 581 [10:23 PM-10:46 PM] |
MSNBC SPECIAL COVERAGE: 496 [10:22 PM-10:46 PM] |
GREG KELLY REPORTS: 29 |
— |
11p | HANNITY: 537 [11:03 PM-11:59 PM] |
STATE OF UNION ANALYSIS: 301 |
MSNBC SPECIAL COVERAGE: 313 [11:02 PM-11:59 PM] |
ROB SCHMITT TONIGHT: 16 |
— |
As for the three cable news networks overall, here are the total day averages in total viewers and the 25-54 demo.
Total viewers:
CNN: 767,000
Fox News: 2.21 million
MSNBC: 1.21 million
25-54 Demo:
CNN: 174,000
Fox News: 326,000
MSNBC: 163,000
Here are the prime time averages — encompassing shows which air from 8-11 p.m. — in total viewers and the 25-54 demo.
Total viewers:
CNN: 1.93 million
Fox News: 4.38 million
MSNBC: 3.02 million
25-54 Demo:
CNN: 516,000
Fox News: 775,000
MSNBC: 412,000
For more ratings information and analysis go to ShowBuzz Daily.
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