Biden Speech Viewed by 26.9 Million
The Claim
11.6 million people watched President Joe Biden’s first speech to the U.S. Congress.
Emerging story
On Wednesday, April 28, 2021, President Biden delivered his first speech to the U.S. congress. A social media user tweeted that the speech had only 11.6 million viewers. The post was then retweeted or liked over 30,000 times.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar discovered that on April 28, 2021, President Joe Biden addressed some congressional members for the first time in his presidency. The number of congressional attendees was limited due to COVID-19 protocol. The speech was broadcasted on 16 U.S. television networks. According to Nielsen ratings data, the President’s speech attracted 26.9 million viewers.
The Nielsen ratings are a commonly used source of media audience estimation. Their estimates are also broken down by demographics.
Neilson reported that the majority of viewers, more than 18,000, were 55 years old and older. According to Deadline.com, ABC topped coverage with 4.03 million, followed by MSNBC with 3.94 million, NBC with 3.54 million, CBS with 3.37 million, CNN with 3.18 million, Fox News with 2.92 million and Fox with 1.63 million. The viewership was a drop from the 47.7 million who watched Donald Trump’s first speech to a joint session on February 28, 2017. According to Reuters.com, television audiences for live events have fallen sharply in the past year as audiences have gravitated to on-demand streaming services.
