Donald Trump’s State of the Union address was all anybody could talk about on Tuesday, but “Ellen’s Game of Games” showed up for NBC too.
This third SOTU from the 45th president of the United States of America is currently down 26% in Big-4 broadcast viewers from his second. According to early Nielsen returns, CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox drew a combined 16 million viewers for the 2020 address. That tally is preliminary, however, and should be considered subject to (upward) adjustment.
The comparable initial tally last year was 21.6 million across those four networks.
NBC and Fox tied for first in ratings, both with a 0.9 rating/4 share in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic. NBC was second in total viewers with an average of 4.4 million, according to preliminary numbers, Fox was fourth with 3.2 million.
For NBC, “Ellen’s Game of Games” at 8 p.m. posted a 1.0/5 and 5 million viewers. From 9 to 10, the Trump address pulled in a 0.9/4 and and 4.4 million viewers. The conclusion of his speech mixed with the channel’s analysis and the democrat response in the 10 p.m. hour averaged a 1.0/5 and 3.8 million viewers.
For Fox, “Gordon Ramsay’s 24 Hours to Hell and Back” at 8 got a 0.8/4 and 3.1 million viewers. At 9, the State of the Union received a 0.9/4 and 3.2 million viewers.
CBS and ABC tied for third in ratings, both with a 0.5/3. CBS was first in total viewers with 4.8 million, ABC was third with 3.5 million.
For CBS, following a rerun, the SOTU at 9 put up a 0.5/3 and 4.6 million viewers. The conclusion of Trump’s speech, the CBS analysis, and the democrat response in the 10 p.m. hour averaged a 0.5/3 and 3.9 million viewers.
For ABC, following repeats, the Trump address had a 0.5/2 and 3.5 million viewers. The SOTU stuff from 10-11 received a 0.6/3 and 3.4 million viewers.
Univision was fifth in ratings with a 0.4/2 and in viewers with 1.2 million.
The CW and Telemundo tied for sixth in ratings, both with a 0.3/2. The CW was sixth in total viewers with 1.04 million, Telemundo was seventh with 1.02 million.
For The CW, “The Flash” at 8 had a 0.4/2 and 1.3 million viewers. At 9, “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow” got a 0.2/1 and 788,000 viewers.