Trump draws audience of 43M for speech

by Joe Concha - 03/01/17 2:58 PM ET

President Trump’s first address to a joint session of Congress this week drew more than 43 million viewers, according to Nielsen data released Wednesday.

The 43.4 million for Trump falls short of President Obama’s first address in the same setting in 2009, which drew 52.4 million viewers in a time when streaming options weren’t as popular or numerous as they are today.

{mosads}Trump’s total viewers still tops Obama’s final State of the Union address ratings, which drew just 31.3 million viewers.

It also will be more than 10 million viewers higher than Sunday’s Academy Awards, where Trump was a frequent target. The awards, broadcast solely on ABC compared to the multiple networks that aired Trump’s speech, drew 32.9 million viewers, its lowest audience since 2008.

Fox News led the way as the most watched of all broadcast and cable networks covering Trump’s address Tuesday night, with 10.76 million total viewers tuning in for the prime-time event.

NBC was second with 9.14 million, with CBS (7.15 million), ABC (6.06 million) and CNN (3.94 million) rounding out the top five.

In the key 25–54 age demographic that advertisers covet most, NBC finished first, with 3.28 million viewers. Fox was second, with 2.78 million, and ABC third, with 2.07 million.

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