Trump’s Address To Congress Averaged 36.6 Million Viewers

According to Nielsen, President Trump’s Address to Joint Sessions of Congress on March 4 averaged an estimated 36.6 million viewers across 15 networks. Viewing peaked from 9:45 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. (ET) at 37,895,000 viewers.

This years audience represented a year-over-year increase of +13% from former President Biden’s final State of the Union address. The 2024 SOTU averaged 32.2 million viewers across 14 networks. According to Nielsen, last year’s SOTU address ranked as the 16th most watched telecast of 2024.

Trump’s address was scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. (ET). Nielsen noted that while coverage varied by network, the 15 networks televised the joint address from approximately 9:15 p.m. ET until 11:00 p.m. (ET).

According to Nielsen, the audience profile as often happens with political telecasts skewed to much older viewers:

• 5.7% of viewers were aged 18-34.
• 20.5% of viewers were aged 35-54.
• 70.7% of viewers were aged 55 and older.

The 15 television networks measured by Nielsen were: ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, Merit Street, Telemundo, Univision, PBS, CNN, CNNe, Fox Business, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, NewsMax, NewsNation. The address was also live streamed across a number of platforms which were not included.

Axios reported Trump’s Congressional address had lasted 100 minutes, the lengthiest speech to date. The previous record had been set by President Bill Clinton in 2000 which was 89 minutes long. In fact, the eight longest Presidential State of Union/Congressional addresses were made by either Trump or Clinton. In addition, Trump’s speech was 9,900 words long.

An incoming President’s first address to Congress is called an Address to Joint Sessions of Congress. In subsequent years it’s called the State of the Union. Typically, a recently inaugurated President will address their upcoming plans, Citing the Congressional Research Service, the Associated Press reports on average the number of policy requests in a first-year Presidential address is 42. On the other hand, State of the Union address typically tout their administrations accomplishments over the past 12 months.

During Trump’s first term in Congress the first Congressional address in February 2017 averaged 47.7 million viewers, the highest on his four addresses. Subsequently, the average audience for Trump’s State of the Union addresses during his first term were 45.55 million (2018), 46.8 million (2019) and 37.2 million (2020). Hence, Trump’s 2025 address was least watched among the five speeches.

The average audience for all four of Trump’s addresses however exceeded Biden’s. In Biden’s first address in 2021 the average audience numbered 26.9 million. The State of the Union address in 2022 averaged 38.2 million (the highest of his four addresses). In 2023 the average audience was 27.3 million.

According to Nielsen, in 1993 the Presidential address by first-year President Bill Clinton averaged 66.9 million viewers, the highest in the past 32 years. The only other address that had averaged greater than 60 million occurred in 2003 when George W, Bush State of the Union address averaged 62.0 million viewers. Nielsen has tracked the average audience of every Presdiential Address to Joint Sessions of Congress or Stae of the Union since 1993.