The Big Four Networks aired Trump’s State of the Union Address last night, although there was some original programming that took advantage of potential counter-programming.
Coverage on the Big Four networks (including post-speech analysis) drew 19.8 million viewers vs. 23 million for the address last year (which was technically not a State of the Union, as incoming presidents get a year before their first formal SOTU). In metered-market households, the four-network average was a 14.8 rating, compared to 16.0 last year.
The CW gained the most from airing original programming last night. The Flash (0.9, 2.57 million viewers) and Black Lightning (0.8, 2.22 million viewers) were both up vs. last week with Black Lightning matching its premiere numbers in the 18-49 demo. I expect to hear some renewal news any day now…
Two Fresh Off the Boat episodes on ABC aired with the first hitting a 1.0 demo rating and 4.05 million viewers while the second hit a 0.9 demo rating and 3.46 million viewers. The first was even with its last episode two weeks ago while the second was down a tenth.
