On Wednesday, January 27, 2010 President Barack Obama’s first State of the Union address was carried live from 9:00PM to approximately 10:20PM on 11 networks. The sum of average audience for those networks was 48,009,595 viewers. The networks carrying the address were ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, TEL, UNI, CNN, BET, CNBC, FOXNC, and MSNBC.
TV Ratings For President Obama’s State of the Union Speech Broadcast Date Networks # of Households Average Viewership P2+ State of the Union 1/27/10 Various (11) 34,182,725 48,009,595 Source: The Nielsen Company Viewership to President Obama’s first State of the Union was down 7% from President Bush’s first official State of the Union address on January 29, 2002, but up 5% from President Clinton’s first official address on January 25, 1994:
TV Ratings For President Obama’s State of the Union Speech Broadcast Date Networks # of Households Average Viewership P2+ G.W. Bush – State of the Union 1/29/02 Various (8) 35,547,000 51,773,000 Clinton – State of the Union 1/25/94 Various (4) 31,000,000 45,800,000 Source: The Nielsen Company
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via nielsenwire.
Here's a link to viewership information on State of the Union addresses back to 1993.
“The networks carrying the address were ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, TEL, UNI, CNN, BET, CNBC, FOXNC, and MSNBC.”
there’s a joke in there somewhere…
Keep in mind the population of the US has grown since 1994 was around 260MM; in 2002 around 286MM and now 310MM. Clinton is handsdown winner here.
Still, Bush has kicked the hell out of Obama,
Bush did not “kick the hell” out of Obama. When Bush gave his speech, there was no online feeds like there is today. Youtube, tv.com, and all the cable / network news channels aired this online as well. If anything, this may be the most viewed state of the union ever.
“Still, Bush has kicked the hell out of Obama”
It was the first state of the union after an attack on America and a new (and still ongoing) war in Afghanistan.
Bush was very popular back then, as the country united behind their President.
Of course, in the end with his 20 something percent approval rating – times changed…
I didn’t watch on TV. I watched over the net. So I too believe this to be the most watched SOTU ever. Also, Bush gave his address not too long after 9/11. As bad as things are for us now, people then were likely more motivated to watch the president speak.
Online viewership is not counted by the Nielsens.
I was one of the 262,000,000 who decided to watch something else!
Good for you for not watching! That’ll show them! You’ve EARNED that emoticon.
Bill, I tried the link to viewership information on previous ‘State of the Union’ addresses, but the link was broken.
Would it be possible to republish the information in your lead story in a table?
Thank you.
Fox Business Channel also carried the address.
Sadly, there was more truth and depth on an episode of Jersey Shore than on the SOTU address.
DenverDean says: “Keep in mind the population of the US has grown since 1994 was around 260MM; in 2002 around 286MM and now 310MM. Clinton is handsdown winner here.”
45.8/260 = 17.6% Clinton
51.7/286 = 18.1% Bush
Bush is the “winner”, but apparently his “no child left behind” policy didn’t work for DenverDean.
yoothpastor, coming from you, I don’t doubt you believe that
I viewed the state of the union online. You can not compare Obama’s state of the union with either Clinton or Bush based on TV viewers.
DenverDean says: “Keep in mind the population of the US has grown since 1994 was around 260MM; in 2002 around 286MM and now 310MM. Clinton is handsdown winner here.”
There was no technology that could allow the public to watch the state of the union through internet during Clinton time (1994). So, all the people that wanted to watch the state of the union had to turn on TV. Nowadays, people could watch the state of the union address online through YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, etc. I watched Obama’s address online. If online viewers get counted, Obama will win both Bush and Clinton.
Between online viewers, DVR, etc, I wonder how long it will be before the old ratings guides will have to be basically done away with in exchange for something new to track it all.
I’d have to imagine with all of the emergent technology out there, there MUST be a way to count the DVR’s, Hulu’s, etc to come out with a more accurate master ratings list.
“My President is better than yours.”
“No he’s not!”
“Yes, he is!”
“No he’s not!”
Really, all of you grow up.
The phrase “Obama will win both Bush and Clinton” doesn’t make sense. Bush and Clinton are not prizes for Obama to win.
Bill, I tried going into the historical ratings table at Nielsen again today, and the link now leads to a message saying: “The file is damaged and could not be repaired.”
If you have the data, would it be possible to revise your article and put the data into it?