Joe Biden’s First Primetime Presidential Address Tops Trump’s in Broadcast Viewers

Joe Biden gave his first primetime national address as president of the United States of America on Thursday, and ABC reaped the (preliminary) ratings benefits. According to Nielsen’s earliest data, Biden’s speech topped Trump’s August 2017 primetime address in terms of broadcast viewers. Biden drew 18.2 million total viewers across ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC. Trump got 17.7 million across the Big 4 broadcast networks. It’s not exactly a perfect comparison, however, as Trump addressed Congress on Feb. 28 2017, which ultimately drew nearly 48 million total viewers, inclusive of cable news nets. (It wouldn’t exactly be fair to compare that State of the Union-esque address to Biden’s 30 minutes behind the podium on Thursday, however.) Plus, a speech roughly two months into a new presidency is not necessarily comparable with one six months in, and summer is not a great time for TV ratings. Finally, Trump addressed the nation on the war in Afghanistan. Biden spoke about the coronavirus pandemic, which directly impacts many more Americans than his White House predecessor’s topic did. Thursday’s Biden address paired with a shocking death on “Grey’s Anatomy” handed ABC first place in primetime outright, meaning the broadcast network won both the key demo and in terms of overall eyeballs. Readers should consider these early Nielsen numbers for the Biden address, which ran from 8 p.m. ET to 8:30 p.m. ET, subject to significant adjustment. The rankings for the speech will also change when we get cable news numbers later on Friday.

ABC was first in ratings with a 0.8 rating/5 share in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic and in total viewers with an average of 4.8 million, according to preliminary numbers. The Biden half-hour drew a 0.8/6 and 6.244 million total viewers. At 8:30, “Station 19” and the very beginning of “Grey’s Anatomy” scored a 0.9/6 and 5.2 million viewers. At “9:30,” the rest of “Grey’s” and the first few minutes of “A Million Little Things” earned a 0.8/6 and 4.6 million viewers. From 10:30-11, “A Million Little Things” closed primetime with a 0.4/3 and 2.7 million viewers.

CBS and Fox tied for second in ratings, both with a 0.5/3. CBS was second in total viewers with 4.5 million, Fox was third with 2.239 million.

For CBS, the Biden half hour landed a 0.8/5 and 6.168 million total viewers. “Young Sheldon” at 8:30 took a 0.7/4 and 5.8 million viewers. At 9, “B Positive” managed a 0.6/4 and 4.8 million viewers. “Mom” at 9:30 settled for a 0.5/3 and 4.2 million viewers. At 10, “Clarice” ended the night with a 0.3/2 and 2.9 million viewers. For Fox, Biden’s address at 8 p.m. combined with the very beginning of “Hell’s Kitchen” got a 0.5/3 and 2.282 million viewers. At 8:30, “Hell’s Kitchen” continued with a 0.6/4 and 2.4 million viewers. At 9, the end of “Hell’s Kitchen” and the first part of “Call Me Kat” had a 0.5/3 and 2.2 million viewers. At 9:30, “Call Me Kat” wrapped up and “Last Man Standing” began to a 0.4/2 and 1.8 million viewers. “Last Man Standing” concluded at 10 with a 0.5/3 and 2.5 million viewers.

Univision was fourth in ratings with a 0.4/2 and fifth in viewers with 1.3 million.

NBC and Telemundo tied for fifth in ratings, both with a 0.3/2. NBC was fourth in total viewers with 2.197 million, Telemundo was seventh with 912,000.

For NBC, the Biden address picked up a 0.5/3 and 3.521 million viewers. At 8:30, “Superstore” settled for a 0.3/2 and 1.8 million viewers. Following a repeat of “Law & Order: SVU,” “Dateline NBC” at 10 managed a 0.2/2 and 1.8 million viewers.

The CW was seventh in ratings with a 0.2/1 and in viewers with 936,000. “Walker” at 8 had a 0.3/2 and 1.4 million viewers. “Legacies” at 9 got a 0.1/1 and 503,000 viewers.