Eleven networks carried President Obama’s State of the Union Address Wednesday night, reaching 48 million viewers. That average is down 7 percent from President Bush’s first State of the Union in 2002, but up 5 percent from President Clinton’s in 1994, according to Nielsen Media Research. Below, our usual ratings chart of the broadcast network’s primetime performances, including preliminary estimates for their State of the Union audiences. Fox, perhaps due to its American Idol lead-in, was the network of choice.
| Time | Show | Viewers (in millions) |
|---|---|---|
| 8 p.m. | American Idol (Fox) Modern Family (ABC) The New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS) Mercy (NBC) Gossip Girl (The CW) |
25.7 5.9 (repeat) 4.8 (repeat) 3.6 (repeat) .7 (repeat) |
| 8:30 p.m. | The Middle (ABC) Gary Unmarried (CBS) |
5.1 (repeat) 4.5 (repeat) |
| 9 p.m. | State of the Union (Fox) State of the Union (ABC) State of the Union (NBC) State of the Union (CBS) Life Unexpected (The CW) |
9.7 7.5 7.2 6.5 1.4 (repeat) |
| 10: 30 p.m. | Two and a Half Men (CBS) Cougar Town (ABC) |
4.2 (repeat) 4.1 (repeat) |
Read more:
American Idol recap: Whips, Smarts
Ken Tucker on Chris Matthews’ coverage of the State of the Union
Ugh, I can’t wait for Obama to leave office. I knew he was a bad choice to be President right from the start. The problem was, all the people that wanted change wanted it so badly that they didn’t care who they got. Obama said ‘change,’ but all of his supporters were to fickle to ask exactly what change he was talking about. His approval rating is steadily declining. All the liberals are realizing they made a mistake, but they’re too gutless to admit it.
I agree. And now he’s going to create more debt with the Health Care bill and the Stimulus. The last thing the U.S. needs to be even more in the hole…
You can step off your soapbox now.
yeah, because McCain and Palin would’ve done a BANG UP job. ha! talk about floundering!
I think so far Obama has done a great job. He’s only been in the office a year. And the country was in the sh*tter when he got it, so it’s not like it’s going to be easy for him to fix it. It’s going to take YEARS before this country is operating in some kind of stable fashion. Obama’s speech addressed that fact and one of the most important things he said is that this country can not be improved until EVERYONE cooperates. That means democrats, republicans, Independents, EVERYONE! This country needs to be more bipartisan if we’re going to get anywhere and that’s exactly what Obama is trying to do.
I’m with Celia. 100%.
Horrible speech….I’m frightened for our country.
I am also frightened for this country–not because of Obama, but because of people like you.
Ditto
don, go to foxnews.com or cnn.com to talk politics
Free speech Dirk….Don can say whatever he wants, wherever he wants to say it.
So can Dirk-the first amendment protects people who say dumb things and the people who make fun of them equally.
NBC will soon release a press release proclaiming THEY BEAT CBS FOR A NIGHT!
brilliant speech by President Obama. he puts all the lazy, do-nothing complainers to shame.
I watched Man vs. Wild. That dude sure does like to get naked.
I was also inspired by his speech. And people can blame Obama all they want, put if you’re going to point fingers, make sure you also place some of the blame on the senate and congress. 2009 was also the year of the filibuster.
There nothing brilliant in Obama’s speech other than the way he delivered it. Yea, he’s a great orator but he’s an atrocious leader.
Go to any reputable news site and search “State of the Union fact check”. A vast majority of his speech was lies or altered truth.
Right, a republican news site about the validity of the president’s comments is a reputable source. There’s certainly no bias there.
I’m assuming you got that info from Fox news.
I said ANY reputable news sight. Go to ABC or NBC. Even the Huffington Post gave Obama’s speech a failing grade.
Don’t be a left wing media drone.
Sorry, obviously I read your post quickly, but every State of the Union address has people the next day grading the facts. Bush, quite often, left huge gaps in his speeches. Here’s one link from a quick search I did: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6994676
Point is: if you want to criticize Obama, fine, but I hope your giving as much heat to Senators and members of Congress who have been heavy roadblocks in the last twelve months.
your = you’re
No where in the Huffington Post does it say that obama’s speech was full of “lies or altered truth” as you said. I checked, in fact none of the “reputable” news stations you mentioned “ABC or NBC” said that. They include some critics as any normal coverage would, but they did not, as you claim, say that it was full of lies. You are the only one lying here.
I felt like I was watching children being put in time-out last night. I like Obama, but this is a shameful time for anyone in politics.
What bothers me is how right Obama thinks he is. If the Supreme Court rules against my thinking…they are wrong. If the Rep’s don’t vote for my socialt policies they are wrong….everyone wrong but him.
Not really. He did take responsibility last night. I forget exactly what he said, but he did say that, in addition to Senators and congress members, he shares the responsibility for mistakes in the last year.
Republicans are not voting on his policies at all, remember, they are fillibustering, which means they are blocking the vote. They are very welcome to vote against as many policies as they want to, but they are actually preventing everyone else from voting too, that’s not disagreement, that’s obstructionism. And I suggest you look up what the supreme court’s decision means before siding with them on that one.
Hi, this is Don from the first comment. Yeah, so Obama also wanted to set up a ‘holiday’ tree. Of course, being a liberal, he would want to appease everyone, and be all politically-correct. Just so everyone knows, political-correctness is a bunch of nonsense, and it doesn’t get you anywhere. It’s a big, fat joke. Obama, if you’re gonna call it a ‘holiday’ tree, you might as well put one up for Easter. It’s called a ‘Christmas’ tree for a reason!!
the problems with this country:
1) an evil party (reps) that has decided they will block every legislation to make sure the president fails no matter what it does to the country–very patriotic
2) a party with no courage (dems) –most want to save their skin and run for the hills
BRING TERMS LIMITS, GET RID OF LOBBYISTS, AND FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, WOULD THE REPUBLICAN PARTY GO BACK TO THE BASICS AND THROW AWAY THAT HORRIBLE FRACTION OF MEAN EVIL PEOPLE THE NARROW MINDED INBRED RELIGIOUS WACKOS