UPDATED: Nielsen said that an estimated 24.2 million watched President Joe Biden‘s press conference on Thursday, a figure that is roughly half the audience for CNN’s presidential debate last month.
Just over 19 million of those viewers were 55 and over; 3.58 million were 35-54; and 1 million were 18-34.
The figures are from eight television networks including ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, Univision, CNN, Fox News and MSNBC.
For comparison, Nielsen noted that 20.3 million watched Biden’s Oval Office address last October, when he spoke about the Israel-Hamas conflict and the war in Ukraine. That measurement was across 10 networks.
PREVIOUSLY: Joe Biden’s press conference, his latest test as he faces calls within the Democratic party to drop out of the 2024 presidential race, drew almost 23 million viewers across six networks.
Fox News topped the networks, drawing an estimated 5.67 million viewers, followed by ABC News with 4.97 million, CBS News with 3.60 million, NBC News with 3.55 million, MSNBC with 2.52 million and CNN with 2.22 million.
The roughly hourlong press conference, held at the end of the NATO Summit in Washington, D.C., started at around 7:30 p.m. ET, spilling over into primetime. Given the crisis facing the Democratic party and the future of Biden’s campaign, it was treated as a critical moment in the election year.
ABC News topped the 25-54 demo with 879,000, followed by Fox News with 835,000, CBS News with 611,000, NBC News with 592,000, CNN with 439,000 and MSNBC with 319,000.
The figures are from Nielsen via Fox News.
Among the three major cable news network, Fox News topped primetime with an average of 4.24 million, followed by MSNBC with 1.77 million and CNN with 1.4 million.
Two weeks ago, CNN’s presidential debate, which triggered Democrats’ alarm about Biden’s candidacy, drew about 51.3 million across 16 networks.
