CNN Tops MSNBC in Demo 25-54 During President Biden’s State of the Union Address
#1 IN CABLE NEWS AMONG YOUNGER VIEWERS 18-34
YOUNGEST AUDIENCE IN CABLE NEWS
1.3 MILLION LIVE VIDEO STARTS ON CNN DIGITAL TUESDAY
During President Biden’s second State of the Union Address (9:08p – 10:23p), CNN brought in a large audience of younger viewers, ranking #2 in cable news among adults 25-54 with 651k, topping MSNBC (500k) by +30%. Additionally, among 18-34, CNN ranked #1 in cable news and #3 among all broadcast and cable networks that covered the address, ahead of CBS, MSNBC, Fox News and Fox broadcast. In total viewers, CNN posted an impressive 2.4M, ahead of Fox broadcast. This year’s address follows last year’s first State of the Union Address for President Biden that occurred days after the start of the War in Ukraine, which elevated audience levels across all networks, particularly for CNN where people turn for breaking news. 2022 was CNN’s largest audience in history for a State of the Union Address among total viewers and 25-54.
For the Republican Response (10:47p-11p) and pre and post coverage analysis (8p-9p, 11p-1a), CNN was #1 in cable news among younger viewers 18-34.
Once again, CNN also attracted the youngest audience in cable news (64), 6 years younger than Fox News (70) and 8 years younger than MSNBC (72).
CNN’s 2023 State of the Union coverage (9:08p-10:23p) saw an average audience of 92k users live streaming the coverage (equivalent to the way TV ratings are calculated). TV plus digital live streaming produced a combined average audience of 2.5 million total viewers (digital viewing added 3.8% to CNN TV’s P2+ average audience).
CNN Digital’s live video starts reached 1.3 million and live concurrent streams peaked at 104k at 9:50pm during the 2023 State of the Union Address across CNN’s owned & operated platforms. CNN Digital reached more than 23 million digital cross-platform unique visitors on Tuesday, February 7, surpassing all addresses through 2019.
CNN’s coverage of the State of the Union Address and Republican Response streamed live, without requiring a cable log-in, on CNN.com’s homepage and across mobile devices via CNN’s apps for iOS and Android on Tuesday, February 7 from 8pm–1amET. It was also available on CNNgo (on desktop, smartphone, iPad, and via CNN OTT and mobile apps under “TV Channels”). The audio of CNN’s coverage of the State of the Union Address and Republican Response streamed on CNN’s channels on SiriusXM, Radio.com and TuneIn Radio.
CNN’s Jake Tapper in Washington and Anderson Cooper in New York lead the network’s coverage. They were joined for pre- and post-speech analysis by Dana Bash, Abby Phillip, Chris Wallace, John King, Jamie Gangel, Don Lemon, and Alisyn Camerota. Wolf Blitzer, Kaitlan Collins, and Kasie Hunt also provided coverage live from Capitol Hill. CNN Tonight with Laura Coates picked up coverage beginning at 1amET.
CNN Worldwide is the most honored brand in cable news, reaching more individuals on television and online than any other cable news organization in the United States. Globally, CNN International is the most widely distributed news channel. CNN Digital is the #1 online news destination, with more unique visitors and video viewers than any other news source. The award-winning portfolio of CNN includes non-scripted programming from CNN Original Series and documentary feature and short films for broadcast, streaming and distribution by CNN Films across multiple platforms. CNN programming can be found on CNN, CNN International, HLN and CNN en Español channels, on the CNN Originals hub on discovery+, on HBO Max, and for pay TV subscription via CNN.com, CNN apps and cable operator platforms. Additionally, CNN Newsource is the world’s most extensively utilized news service partnering with over 1,000 local and international news organizations around the world. CNN is a division of Warner Bros. Discovery.