President Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday night drew over 40 million viewers on the four major broadcast networks and top three cable news networks according to Nielsen Media Research. Over a fourth of those viewers chose to watch on Fox News, which drew a record-breaking 11.5 million people to its coverage — which marks the highest ratings for a cable news network for the speech itself in history.
That audience liked what they saw during the 80-minute speech, according to a CBS News poll of 1,200 viewers conducted shortly after the well-received oration had ended.
The survey found that 81 percent of the viewers felt that Mr. Trump was trying to unite the nation, while three fourths approved of the speech itself, and hoped that Mr. Trump would continue to “reach out” to political rivals. Another 72 percent approved of Mr. Trump’s proposals and 65 percent “felt proud” during the night. A majority — 54 percent — said Mr. Trump’s policies would “help them.”
Mr. Trump’s “SOTU” speech did not draw as large an audience as his initial address to Congress last year, which pulled in 48 million people.
Though it is early in the game, Mr. Trump’s ratings for the annual event could very well be on par with former President Barack Obama, who drew between 31 million and 52 million for his State of the Union speeches during his two terms in office.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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