President Obama delivered his first address from the Oval Office at 8pm last evening. The remarks were carried on all the broadcast, cable news, and business networks. Nielsen reports the address drew 32 million viewers across 11 networks. (For comparison, here are some of the numbers from Obama’s speeches in 2009.)
According to preliminary overnight numbers, it appears ABC had the largest audience of the broadcast nets in the timeslot, thanks to the NBA Finals pregame.
On cable, Fox News drew the most viewers, followed by CNN, then MSNBC. You can check out the full numbers for the 8pmET hour and primetime on our Scoreboard.
At a White House briefing today, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs discussed the cable news coverage of the address and said, “I appreciate the hand on the pulse of America by those who live on cable TV,” but added, “I don’t actually think that is where all of real America lives.”