Nearly 20 million Americans watched President Donald Trump’s prime-time address to the nation on top broadcast and cable networks this week, according to finalized ratings data from Nielsen.
The data, shared with The Desk by a broadcaster on Friday, revealed Fox News and CBS were in a close competition for the most viewers on their networks, with Fox News attracting 300,000 more viewers between the hours of 9 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time.
The prime-time address interrupted the planned season finale of the reality competition show “Survivor,” which the network reprogrammed to air in two parts that night. CBS typically has the highest ratings with its prime-time programming among the five core broadcast networks.
Fox News won the night in prime-time with 4.7 million viewers, according to Nielsen data. MS NOW (formerly MSNBC) was in second place among cable networks with 1.6 million viewers; the network promised to fact-check the speech along the way, though most of its commentary came before and after Trump’s address.
CNN ranked third among cable networks with 1.2 million viewers during the 30-minute TV block. Ratings data for NewsNation and Newsmax were not immediately available.
CBS may have ranked second among all networks, but it placed first among the key demographic of adults between the ages of 25 and 54 years old (A25-54) with 971,000 viewers. The A25-54 group tends to be the most-attractive to cable news advertisers, though brands that market on broadcast TV also take into account viewership among that demographic. Fox News captured 589,000 A25-54 viewers, the highest among cable networks and second-highest when counting broadcast networks.
Presentation of the presidential address on ABC grabbed 3.2 million viewers and 647,000 in the A25-54 demographic, while NBC attracted 2.4 million viewers and 490,000 in the A25-54 demographic. Fox network coverage, produced by Fox News Media but different from what aired on its cable channel, attracted 2.2 million viewers and 498,000 A25-54 viewers.
The address was intended to serve as a recap of Trump’s policy accomplishments during the first year of his second term in office, which started in mid-January. During the speech, Trump announced a near-$1,800 holiday bonus for more than 1 million members of the U.S. military and said his administration would implement “most-favored nations” clauses with nine pharmaceutical companies in an effort to lower prescription drug prices.
Trump also exaggerated the country’s economic woes, including the state of inflation, which he incorrectly asserted was at a 48-year high when he took office. The rate of inflation had eased in the months leading up to the inauguration, after peaking in 2022.
