September 26, 2008 One Comment
52.7 million viewers tuned in for President Bush’s speech on the U.S. economic crisis, which aired live Wednesday night from approximately 9:00pm to 9:15pm EST on ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, Telemundo, Univision, CNBC, CNN, FOX News Channel, and MSNBC.
| Rating | Average Audience Number |
|
|---|---|---|
| All Households | 33.2 | 38,031,000 |
| Persons 2+ | 18.2 | 52,653,000 |
| Source: The Nielsen Company (September 24, 2008) | ||
| Note: Sum of audience estimates for ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, Telemundo, Univision, CNBC, CNN, FOX News Channel, and MSNBC. | ||
As a comparison, TV ratings for selected major news events throughout the past two decades are included below.
| Event | Number of Networks | Date | Average Combined Household Rating | Average Number of Viewers (P2+) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| President Ford’s Funeral | 8 | 1/2/2007 | 11.3 | 15,028,000 |
| Michael Jackson Trial Verdict | 11 – English Language | 6/13/2005 | 21.1 | 28,115,000 |
| Michael Jackson Trial Verdict | 2 – Spanish Language | 6/13/2005 | 14.7 | 2,470,000 |
| State of the Union | 7 | 1/19/1999 | 31 | 43,500,000 |
| Clinton’s Grand Jury Testimony | 6 | 9/21/1998 | 18.8 | 22,500,000 |
| Clinton’s Apology Address to Country | 8 | 8/17/1998 | 46.9 | 67,600,000 |
| Princess Diana’s Funeral–Sat 6-8am | 8 | 9/6/1997 | 26.6 | 33,252,000 |
| OJ Simpson Verdict | 10 | 10/5/1995 | 42.9 | 53,925,000 |
| State of Union-Clinton | 5 | 1/25/1994 | 32.9 | 45,800,000 |
| Clinton Address re: Health Care | 4 | 9/22/1993 | 32.8 | 47,700,000 |
| Joint Session of Congress by Clinton | 4 | 2/17/1993 | 44.3 | 66,900,000 |
| Clinton Address on the Economy | 4 | 2/15/1993 | 42.1 | 64,300,000 |
| Bush News Conference re: LA Riots | 5 | 5/1/1991 | 37.1 | 54,600,000 |
| Gulf War Day One | 4 | 1/16/1991 | 54.3 | 85,600,000 |
| Source: The Nielsen Company (2007) | ||||
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Tags: bail out, bailout, banking, Bernanke, Cox, economic crisis, economy, financial crisis, McCain, mortgage backed securities, mortgage lenders, national address, Obama, Paulson, Politics, President Bush, recovery plan, U.S., Wall Street crisis
[...] For historical information on selected presidential addresses and other major news events, please visit the Nielsen blog at: http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/media_entertainment/bush-economic-address/ [...]
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