Fox News won the State of the Union ratings race Thursday, March 7, in terms of total viewers, while NBC won the demo battle. Anchored by Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, Fox News Channel had 5.64 million total viewers, while ABC had 5.024 million, NBC posted 4.33 million, MSNBC had 4.20 million, CBS tallied 3.94 million, CNN had 2.51 million, Fox broadcast had 1.71 million, Fox Business averaged 240,000 and CNBC had 112,000, according to Nielsen's fast nationals.
In the 25-54 demo, NBC, with Lester Holt and Savannah Guthrie anchoring, was tops with 1.11 million, just ahead of ABC’s 1.07 million. Fox News had 1.03 million, CBS tallied 824,054, CNN posted 646,000 and MSNBC had 611,000. Fox broadcast scored 516,738, Fox Business had 40,000 and CNBC tallied 35,000 in the demo.
The ratings reflect viewership from 9:15 p.m. to 10:45 p.m. ET. President Joe Biden spoke for 68 minutes at the Capitol, and the Republican response, from Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.), followed. “My purpose tonight is to wake up the Congress and alert the American people that this is no ordinary moment,” he began. “Not since President Lincoln and the Civil War have freedom and democracy been under assault at home as they are today.”
The New York Times called it “one of the most confrontational speeches that any president has offered from the House rostrum, met by equally fractious heckling from his Republican opponents.”
