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31.3 Million Viewers Tune In To Watch Pres. Obama’s State of the Union Address

3 minute read | January 2016

On Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, President Barack Obama delivered his annual State of the Union address. The address was carried live from 9 p.m. to 10:15 p.m. on 12 networks and tape-delayed on Univision. The sum of the average audience for those networks was 31.3 million viewers with a combined household rating of 19.6. The networks carrying the address live were ABC, Al Jazeera America, Azteca, CBS, CNN, FOX, FOX Business Network, FOX News Channel, Galavision, MSNBC, NBC and NBC Universo.

In terms of the social nature of the address, a U.S. audience on Twitter of 9.8 million people saw one or more of the 2.6 million Tweets sent in the U.S. about the “State of The Union 2016,” according to Nielsen Social. Twitter activity spiked at 10:10 p.m. ET, when 30,600 Tweets were sent in one minute following the President’s closing remarks.

State of the Union – Jan. 12, 2016

Networks Combined Household Rating Average Number of Households Average Number of Total Viewers (P2+)
ABC, Al Jazeera America, Azteca, CBS, CNN, FOX, FOX Business Network, FOX News Channel, Galavision, MSNBC, NBC, NBC Universo, Univision* 19.6 23,040,590 31,334,349
*Tape delay.
Source: Nielsen

Below is a historical look at past State of the Union addresses.

Historical State of the Union Addresses

Date Networks Combined Household Rating Combined No. of Households Combined No. of Viewers President
1/20/15 ABC, Al Jazeera America, Azteca, CBS, CNN, Fox, Fox Business Network, Fox News Channel, Galavision, MSNBC, MundoFox, NBC, Univision^ 19.9 23,137,483 31,710,349 Obama
1/18/2014 CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX, Azteca, Fox Business, Fox News Channel, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, Al Jazeera America, Galavision, Mun2, UNI^ 20.7 23,949,843 33,299,172 Obama
2/12/2013 FOX, ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, Azteca, UNI, MFX, CNBC, CNN, Fox Business, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, Current, Centric, GALA 21.8 24,767,047 33,497,607 Obama
1/24/2012 ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, TEL, TF, UNI, CNBC, CNN, FBN, FOXNC, GALA, MSNBC and MUN2 24 27,569,423 37,752,613 Obama
1/25/2011 ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, TEL, UNI, CNN, Centric, CNBC, FOXNC, and MSNBC 26.6 30,871,688 42,789,947 Obama
1/27/2010 ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, TEL, UNI, CNN, BET, CNBC, FOXNC, MSNBC 29.8 34,182,725 48,009,595 Obama
2/24/2009* ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, CNBC, CNN, FOXNC, MSNBC, TELEMUNDO, UNIVISION 32.5 37,185,000 52,373,000 Obama
1/28/2008 ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, CNN, FOXNC, MSNBC, TELEMUNDO^, UNIVISION 24.7 27,702,000 37,515,000 G.W Bush
1/23/2007 ABC, CBS, FOX**, NBC, CNN, FOXNC, MSNBC, TELEMUNDO**, UNIVISION ** 29.6 32,968,000 45,486,000 G.W. Bush
1/31/2006 ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, CNN, FOXNC, MSNBC 26.9 29,578,000 41,699,000 G.W. Bush
  TELEMUNDO, AZTECA AMERICA, TELFUTURA, TELEMUNDO 8.4 950,000 1,480,000  
2/2/2005 ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, CNN, FOXNC, MSNBC 25.2 27,699,000 38,382,000 G. W. Bush
  TELEMUNDO, TELEFUTURA 6 660,000 1,050,000  
1/20/2004 ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, CNN, CNBC, FOXNC, MSNBC 28 30,286,000 43,411,000 G. W. Bush
1/28/2003 ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, CNN, CNBC, FOXNC, MSNBC 38.8 41,447,000 62,061,000 G. W. Bush
1/29/2002 ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, CNN, CNBC, FOXNC, MSNBC 33.6 35,547,000 51,773,000 G.W. Bush
2/27/2001* ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, CNN, FOXNC, MSNBC 27.6 28,201,000 39,793,000 G.W. Bush
1/27/2000 ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, CNN, FOXNC, MSNBC 22.4 22,536,000 31,478,000 Clinton
1/19/1999 ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, CNN, FOXNC, MSNBC 31 30,700,000 43,500,000 Clinton
1/27/1998 ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, CNN, CNBC, FOXNC, MSNBC 37.2 36,513,000 53,077,000 Clinton
2/4/1997 ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, CNN 28.4 27,600,000 41,100,000 Clinton
1/23/1996 ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, CNN 29.6 28,400,000 40,900,000 Clinton
1/24/1995 ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN 29.5 28,100,000 42,200,000 Clinton
1/25/1994 ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN 32.9 31,000,000 45,800,000 Clinton
2/17/1993* ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN 44.3 41,200,000 66,900,000 Clinton
Source: Nielsen
Notes: Beginning Dec. 25, 2006, estimates on this page include live viewing plus any time-shifted viewing within the same day (defined as 3AM-3AM). *Feb. 17, 1993, Feb. 27, 2001 and Feb. 24, 2009 officially the “Address to the Joint Sessions of Congress.” ^Coverage was tape delayed, all other networks carried live.**On Jan. 23, 2007, the coverage of these networks goes beyond a common end time and includes the State Of The Union Address and commentary. This does not include the Democratic Response.

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