Fox News Takes Top Spot with Most Watched State of the Union Coverage; Beats CNN and MSNBC Combined

FOX News Channel (FNC) was the highest-rated network in all of television in both total viewers and the key 25-54 demographic for coverage of the 2019 State of the Union (SOTU) address, according to early Nielsen Media Research.

The address garnered more viewers than last year’s address by Trump and pulled in better numbers than former President Barack Obama did for his second-year SOTU.

With individual rises for all of the Big 4, last night’s SOTU was up overall more than 10% in the early metrics from Trump’s official inaugural address to the House members and the Senate of January 30 last year. It’s a rare feat for any President this deep into his term, the rise also shows that Trump will eclipse not only his own first SOTU and his 2017 address to Congress but also the second SOTU of his predecessor Barack Obama.

Co-anchored by Special Report’s Bret Baier and The Story’s Martha MacCallum, FNC averaged 11.1 million total viewers and 2.8 million in the 25-54 demographic for the duration of the address (9PM-10:30 PM/ET). This marks the second consecutive year that FNC has defeated coverage of both broadcast and cable news competition. Among cable news competition, FNC beat CNN and MSNBC combined in both total viewers and the demo for the second consecutive year. Additionally, FNC was the most-watched network in all of television for the Democratic response among total viewers.

FOX News digital delivered the highest-ever State of the Union in key metrics including total page views and uniques. According to Adobe Analytics, FOX News digital page views were up 20 percent in comparison to the 2018 State of the Union address and up 22 percent in uniques and up 40 percent in media initiates. Additionally, FOX News was the number one most engaged news brand on social media with 1.8 million total social interactions, according to Socialbakers.

President Donald Trump’s State of the Union Address highlighted the nation’s successes and a need for unity that was received well by both Democrat and Republican voters. A new SRSS Poll found that 77% of respondents liked the speech and a CBS Poll showed 97% of Republicans, 80% of Independents, and even 30% of Democrats approved of the address.

Ratings for Tuesday, February 5^th, According to Nielsen Media Research:

State of the Union address 9PM-10:30PM/ET:

1. FNC delivered 11.1 million P2+ and 2.8 million A25-54
2. NBC delivered 7.1 million P2+ and 2.6 million A25-54
3. CBS delivered 6.7 million P2+ and 1.9 million A25-54
4. ABC delivered 5.9 million P2+ and 1.8 million A25-54
5. FOX delivered 4.2 million P2+ and 1.7 million A25-54
6. MSNBC delivered 3.8 million P2+ and 798K A25-54
7. CNN delivered 3.4 million P2+ and 1.2 million A25-54

Democratic Response 10:45-11PM/ET:

1. FNC: 6.4 million P2+ and 1.6 million A25-54
2. CNN: 3.3 million P2+ and 1.2 million A25-54
3. MSNBC: 4.7 million P2+ and 1.1 million A25-54
4. ABC: 4.6 million P2+ and 1.4 million A25-54
5. NBC: 5.4 million P2+ and 2.1 million A25-54
6. CBS: 4.7 million P2+ and 1.4 million A25-54

Primetime coverage 8-11PM/ET

1. FNC delivered 8,515,000 P2+ and 2,017,000 A25-54
2. CNN delivered 2,843,000 P2+ and 984,000 A25-54
3. MSNBC delivered 3,528,000 P2+ and 724,000 A25-54
4. FBN delivered 361,000 P2+ and 62,000 A25-54