Fox News Beats All Networks Including Broadcast For SOTU Ratings

Screenshot via Fox News

More viewers tuned into Fox News to watch President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address than any cable or broadcast network.

Fox News brought in 5.6 million viewers for their State of the Union coverage, according to early Nielsen data. That was the average from 9:15-10:45 PM ET. Among that 5.6 million is more than one million in the coveted 25-54 demographic.

Fellow cable networks CNN and MSNBC nabbed 2.5 and 4.2 million viewers, respectively. Each network got more than 600,000 viewers in the 25.54 demo, with CNN just edging out MSNBC 646,000 to 611,000. It was Fox’s third year being the most-watched network covering the State of the Union address, while Thursday was MSNBC’s largest audience ever for the annual event.

Fox News hosts leading the network’s coverage of the State of the Union included Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum.

Fox saw a 20% gain in ratings from the year prior. This year’s viewership total for Fox tops coverage from broadcast channels like ABC (5 million), NBC (4.3 million), and CBS (3.9 million). ABC and NBC did, however, notch slightly more viewers in the 25-54 demo during the SOTU address than Fox News, but Fox still saw a 21% bump year-over-year in that 25-54 demo.

From 8:00-11:00 P.M. ET, Fox News brought in 4.8 million viewers and 810,000 in the 25-54 demo. CNN and MSNBC meanwhile brought in approximately 2 and 3.5 million, respectively. Each also reached nearly 500,000 viewers in the 25.54 demo.

Below are the full numbers from Nielsen Media Research (total viewers – demo):

Fox News: 5,640,000 – 1,031,000

ABC: 5,024,390 – 1,073,515

NBC: 4,328,785 – 1,114,142

MSNBC: 4,200,000 – 611,000

CBS: 3,935,247 – 824,054

CNN: 2,511,000 – 646,000

FOX: 1,714,606 – 516,738

FBN: 240,000 – 40,000

CNBC: 112,000 – 35,000