Editor’s note: This post has been updated.
Update:
The White House clarified President Trump’s tweet earlier claiming viewership of his SOTU speech was the “highest number in history”:
A White House source said the president “was referring to highest in cable news history, which is why he specifically mentioned Fox News” https://t.co/zH5hQzQ1Yh
— Variety (@Variety) February 1, 2018
Original:
President Trump is back on Twitter after a brief hiatus following Tuesday night’s State of the Union and talking about the Nielsen ratings for the speech:
Thank you for all of the nice compliments and reviews on the State of the Union speech. 45.6 million people watched, the highest number in history. @FoxNews beat every other Network, for the first time ever, with 11.7 million people tuning in. Delivered from the heart!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 1, 2018
Now we don’t know exactly what information he’s using to claim “the highest number in history” — maybe including streaming online? — but if you go by Nielsen ratings numbers alone, it’s not accurate:
Nielsen: It's, er, NOT the highest rated #SOTU in history. It's not #2, or #3, or even #5.
But it IS the highest rated since 2010.https://t.co/FyiU5izXSQ https://t.co/Vzj35end29— Steven Dennis (@StevenTDennis) February 1, 2018
And about 30 minutes after the president praised Fox News in that tweet, the @FoxNewResearch account posted the Nielsen numbers as well, contradicting Trump:
#SOTU TV Viewers:
2018: 45.6M
2017: 47.7M*
2016: 31.3M
2015: 31.7M
2014: 33.3M
2013: 33.5M
2012: 37.8M
2011: 42.8M
2010: 48.0M
2009: 52.4M*
2008: 37.5M
2007: 45.5M
2006: 41.7M
2005: 38.4M
2004: 43.4M
2003: 62.1M
1993: 66.9M* (largest TV audience)*Not an official SOTU pic.twitter.com/OZlUHmGQp4
— Fox News Research (@FoxNewsResearch) February 1, 2018
Did Fox News just subtweet the president?
https://twitter.com/AaronBlake/status/959046456945586176
But like we said earlier, the president could still be proven correct once online numbers are included/estimated:
Hard to know for sure in the streaming era, I guess, but the audience for Trump's first SOTU was beaten by Obama's, according to Variety…https://t.co/lGKGEu9e0K https://t.co/5Izi2nv2o4
— Rhys Blakely (@rhysblakely) February 1, 2018
Why do we still even look at these numbers when so many people watch online https://t.co/BVGA3x95vo
— Lisa Fleisher (@lisafleisher) February 1, 2018
I streamed it. https://t.co/YvBXuPUnLX
— Vince Coglianese (@VinceCoglianese) February 1, 2018
Either way, today’s news cycle just got hijacked the same way it did following inauguration crowd coverage:
https://twitter.com/AaronBlake/status/959046015113482240
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