State of the Union TV ratings 1993-2023

Joe Biden's 2023 State of the Union Address was watched by about 27.3 million viewers across the United States, about 11 million viewers lower than the previous year's viewer figure.

State of the Union Address – additional information

The State of the Union Address, delivered annually by the President of the United States to a joint session of the House of Representatives and the Senate, attracts varying number of viewers, depending on the popularity of the president and the economic and social conditions in the country at the time. In the presented period, the 1993 Address, presented by Bill Clinton, gathered the largest audience with nearly 70 million viewers, whereas the official State of the Union 2023 speech, by Biden, drew the smallest number of viewers.
Barack Obama delivered eight State of the Union Address speeches during his tenure, each with fewer viewers than the previous one. The first speech in 2009 gathered 52.4 million people in front of TV screens, but that figure fell to 31.33 million in 2016. The 2014 address, however, was among the most discussed TV specials on Twitter in the 2013-14 season, reaching 8.8 million users. In 2013, the most discussed issues from Barack Obama’s speech were education, minimum wage and economy.

Inauguration numbers

Barack Obama’s 2009 inauguration was the second most viewed inauguration since 1969. It gathered nearly 38 million viewers, beaten only by Ronald Reagan’s 1981 inauguration with approximately 42 million viewers. Both Obama’s and Reagan’s second inauguration speeches attracted significantly smaller audiences. The same was true for Bill Clinton’s and George W. Bush’s second inauguration speeches. An exception to the rule is Richard Nixon whose 1969 speech gathered 27 million viewers, growing to nearly 33 million in 1973.