More than 27 million people watched President Biden’s State of the Union Address across cable news and broadcast networks Thursday night.
Fox News had the most viewers, with an average of 5.6 million during the president’s speech. ABC brought in the largest audience among the broadcast networks, with just over 5 million viewers, compared to 4.3 million on NBC and 3.9 million on CBS, according to early figures from Nielsen Media Research.
Final ratings figures are expected from Nielsen on Friday evening.
MSNBC had an average of 4.2 million viewers, while CNN had 2.5 million.
The total audience for Thursday night’s speech is similar to last year’s, but smaller than the 38 million who watched Biden’s State of the Union Address in 2022. This was also less than the 45.6 million who watched former President Trump’s first address in 2018.
During Biden's speech before Congress on Thursday, he criticized Republicans’ lack of support for immigration funding, pledged support for Ukraine in its war with Russia, and highlighted his achievements in areas including foreign policy and the economy.
