Democrats Get Better Ratings Than Trump on Tuesday
by EG
Donald Trump's prime-time address this week fell short in the metric that he seems to care most about: the TV ratings. Early returns show that the Democrats' rebuttal of the address attracted a bigger audience than the address itself did. That's gotta hurt. Read on for details.
President Trump's televised Oval Office address on immigration Tuesday drew a big audience. The response from Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer drew a slightly bigger audience, at least according to preliminary figures.
The quarter hour (9-9:15 p.m. ET) containing the president's speech drew a combined 28.1 household rating in metered markets on ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, CNN, Fox News and NBC. The following 15 minutes, including analysis and the Pelosi-Schumer rebuttal, averaged 29.3 across those same networks, a bump of about 4 percent.
Complete ratings for the speech and response will be available later in the day.
Americans deserve to know: the government funding package passed by the House yesterday is the *exact same* plan passed by the @SenateGOP just weeks ago. And yet, now, they refuse to vote on it. #MSNBCTownHall
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) January 5, 2019
CBS had the biggest audience among broadcast networks for the speech and rebuttal with just over 8 million tuning in, pending updates. NBC drew 7 million, ABC 4.43 million and Fox 2.56 million.
The news coverage scrambled regular primetime programming. The season premiere of Ellen's Game of Games on NBC led regular programming in adults 18-49 with a 1.5, off a fair amount from its 2.0 average last season. Following a partial Game of Games rerun after the speech, New Amsterdam returned with a 1.0, down slightly from its last airing in late November.
Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.
Did you watch any of the political theater on Tuesday night? Let us know in the comments below.