UPDATE, 5:45 P.M. ET: According to Nielsen, an estimated 37.2 million people tuned in to watch President Trump deliver his address on Tuesday evening.
While coverage varied by network, 12 aired live coverage from approximately 9:00 p.m. ET to 10:30 p.m. ET.
How does that compare with last year? It’s -21%. A total of 46.8 million viewers watched the 2019 SOTU across 12 Nielsen-measured networks. The networks included in this figure: ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, Telemundo, Univision, PBS, CNN, CNNe, Fox Business, Fox News and MSNBC.
The 37.2 million is the lowest of Trump’s presidency, and the lowest since Pres. Obama’s final State of the Union, back in 2016 (31.3 million).
_____________________________________
With the exception of two networks, ratings for the 2020 State of the Union address were significantly down from the 2019 edition. At least that’s the case when it came to linear.
Per early data from Nielsen, Pres. Trump’s 2020 State of the Union garnered a combined 34.2 million total TV viewers and 9.4 million adults 25-54 across 8 Nielsen-measured English language networks. That figure is likely to increase after final live-plus-same-day data, and data from the Spanish language broadcasters roll in later today.
Still, that total is roughly -20% from what those 8 Nielsen-measured networks hauled in for the 2019 State of the Union, though that figure does not include viewing on digital platforms.
Fox News was the top-rated network for 2020 SOTU coverage, as expected.
FNC averaged 11.5 million total viewers and 2.7 million adults 25-54 from 9-11 p.m. ET, marking the second highest-rated State of the Union in all of TV in the last decade (Fox News averaged 11.7 million in 2018).
Not only did Fox News snag the largest audience for the 3rd consecutive year, but FNC was one of only two networks to post gains in Total Viewers versus last year (+4%). The other was sibling network FBN (+18%).
Fox News also finished No. 1 in the key A25-54 demo. However, only one of the Nielsen-measured networks carrying the address posted year-to-year growth in the demo: FBN (+18%).
All other broadcast and cable networks were down double digits versus 2019. MSNBC posted the most significant year-over-year loss in overall audience, while CBS lost the largest percentage of viewers from the key news demo.
Here’s a look at early TV viewing numbers for the address, which ran from approximately 9-10:30 p.m. ET.
SOTU (9-10:30 p.m. ET)
| Network | 2020 | 2019 | YoY |
| Fox News | 11,546,000 | 11,122,000 | 4% |
| NBC | 4,802,000 | 7,149,000 | -33% |
| CBS | 4,656,000 | 6,679,000 | -30% |
| ABC | 4,121,000 | 5,905,000 | -30% |
| Fox | 3,515,000 | 4,169,000 | -16% |
| CNN | 2,786,000 | 3,442,000 | -19% |
| MSNBC | 2,239,000 | 3,785,000 | -41% |
| FBN | 536,000 | 456,000 | +18% |
| TOTAL | 34,201,000 | 42,707,000 | -20% |
| A25-54 | 2020 | 2019 | YoY |
| FNC | 2,667,000 | 2,751,000 | -3% |
| NBC | 1,645,000 | 2,633,000 | -38% |
| Fox | 1,488,000 | 1,727,000 | -14% |
| ABC | 1,090,000 | 1,775,000 | -39% |
| CBS | 1,034,000 | 1,924,000 | -46% |
| CNN | 946,000 | 1,214,000 | -22% |
| MSNBC | 478,000 | 798,000 | -40% |
| FBN | 94,000 | 80,000 | +18% |
| TOTAL | 9,442,000 | 12,902,000 | -27% |
*Source: Nielsen Fast National Data.
DEMOCRATIC RESPONSE (10:30-10:45 p.m. ET)
| Network | 2020 | 2019 | YoY |
| Fox News | 7,940,000 | 6,404,000 | +24% |
| ABC | 3,541,000 | 4,623,000 | -23% |
| CBS | 3,463,000 | 4,738,000 | -27% |
| NBC | 3,430,000 | 5,370,000 | -36% |
| CNN | 2,924,000 | 3,267,000 | -10% |
| MSNBC | 2,853,000 | 4,722,000 | -40% |
| FBN | 383,000 | N/A | N/A |
| Fox | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| TOTAL | 25,534,000 | ||
| A25-54 | 2020 | 2019 | |
| FNC | 1,967,000 | 1,570,000 | +25% |
| NBC | 1,164,000 | 2,064,000 | -44% |
| ABC | 1,002,000 | 1,413,000 | -29% |
| CNN | 970,000 | 1,201,000 | -19% |
| CBS | 833,000 | 1,358,000 | -39% |
| MSNBC | 587,000 | 1,071,000 | -45% |
| FBN | 55,000 | N/A | N/A |
| Fox | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| TOTAL | 6,578,000 |
*Source: Nielsen Fast National Data.
Fox News was also the most-watched network for the Democratic response, given my Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer. It averaged 7.9 million total viewers and 2 million adults 25-54 from 10:30-10:45 p.m. ET.
Ratings for the Democratic response were significantly down as well, with the exception of Fox News. A combined 25.5 million total TV viewers and 6.58 million adults 25-54 watched the response across 7 Nielsen-measured TV networks. Fox stations went back to regularly scheduled programming.
Stacey Abrams of Georgia gave the Democratic response last year.