More tuned into State of the Union than last year
Seizing one of his biggest media moments ahead of the November election, President Biden delivered a State of the Union address on Thursday that doubled as his campaign kickoff speech, presenting himself to Americans as a still-feeling leader who was prepared for the rigors of a grueling battle. campaign.
Whether his pitch resonates with voters remains to be seen. But there were enough to see what he had to offer.
Live viewership for Biden’s speech is likely to exceed last year’s television audience of 27.3 million, according to early figures released by Nielsen on Friday. Preliminary figures show that about 28 million people watched the major cable and broadcast networks — a number that will likely grow as smaller channels join in. A final count is expected Friday evening.
The 66-minute performance will likely end up as Mr. Biden’s second-most-watched speech to Congress. His first, in 2021, drew 26.9 million viewers, and about 38.2 million watched in 2022, days after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Biden’s next opportunity to command such a large audience will likely be the presidential debates scheduled for the fall. Speeches at political conventions in the summer usually do not attract more viewers than a State of the Union address.
Nielsen’s ratings don’t take into account many Americans who tuned in through streaming TV platforms, online news sites and social media posts. This group is a growing portion of the overall audience as viewers leave traditional cable systems. But there’s no agreed-upon metric to accurately measure online views, so Nielsen data provides the best comparison to previous years.
On Thursday night, Fox News drew 5.6 million viewers, the largest live audience of any network for the time slot that included Mr. Biden’s speech and Alabama Sen. Katie Britt’s Republican rebuttal. ABC was watched by approximately five million people, the largest audience of the three largest broadcast networks.
NBC topped the list among viewers ages 25 to 54, the most important demographic for advertisers in the TV news industry.
Biden aides appear to be gradually allowing him to emerge from a media cocoon after allies raised concerns about his limited public appearances. In particular, a decision by the White House to skip a traditional interview ahead of the Super Bowl set off alarm bells in Democratic circles.
The president is now embarking on a series of campaign stops. On Saturday he will have an interview with Jonathan Capehart, a left-wing host and commentator on MSNBC. The interview will be Mr. Biden’s first with a major television network since speaking to CBS News’ Scott Pelley in October.