About 48 million watch Obama’s State of the Union speech, down from first Bush address
By APThursday, January 28, 2010
About 48 million watch Obama’s speech
LOS ANGELES — About 48 million viewers watched President Barack Obama’s first State of the Union address on 11 networks, with Fox TV drawing the biggest share.
The Nielsen Co. said viewership for Wednesday’s speech was 7 percent lower than for President George W. Bush’s first such address in 2002 but 5 percent higher than for President Bill Clinton’s inaugural State of the Union speech in 1994.
From 9-10 p.m. EST, more than 9.7 million people watched the hour-plus speech on Fox, with ABC drawing 7.6 million viewers, NBC 7.2 million and CBS 6.2 million, according to preliminary Nielsen figures Thursday.
Among the cable news networks, Fox News was the leader with 5.7 million, followed by CNN with 3.3 million and MSNBC with 2.4 million. The speech also was carried live on Telemundo, Univision, BET and CNBC.
Tags: 2010 State Of The Union Address, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Events, Executive Branch, Los Angeles, North America, State Of The Union Address, Tv News, United States
