Dang, people are really into NATO speeches.
Per Nielsen, 24.2 million people watched President Joe Biden‘s solo live news conference on Thursday, July 11. As first noted by the New York Times, that is nearly 5 million viewers more than the Oscars got in March (19.5 million) — and these were the strongest Academy Awards since COVID.
And remember: Thursday’s conference took place two days before the attempted assassination of his presidential-election opponent (again) Donald Trump.
The Biden press conference aired from approximately 7:30 p.m. ET until 8:30 p.m. ET. It was simulcast across eight TV networks: ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, Univision, CNN, Fox News Channel, and MSNBC. The Academy Awards air (only) on ABC.
All told, Fox News drew the single-largest audience for Biden’s presser. Nearly 80 percent of all viewers (on any channel) were age 55 or older.
See Nielsen’s breakdown here:
Why so much overall intrigue? In case you haven’t heard, this is The Most Important Election of Our Lifetime ™. But really, Americans are concerned about Biden’s mental acuity after his poor performance during the late-June 2024 debate with former President Trump. Their debate drew 51.3 million viewers across nearly two dozen platforms. CNN edged Fox News Channel for first place that night; CNN hosted the event.
The 2024 Oscars on March 10 were a night to celebrate “Oppenheimer” and “Poor Things.” The Biden press conference, which lasted for nearly an hour, was a night to celebrate cognition in the 81-year-old leader of the free world.
Biden vs. Trump in 2020 was an even hotter TV event. Round 1 on September 29 topped 73 million viewers, which places it in third all-time. The next debate (another one was canceled because President Trump would not participate in a virtual debate; it was COVID) had nearly 63 million viewers — and it was not the only game in town. The same evening saw the start to the 2020 World Series (the Los Angeles Dodgers vs. the Tampa Bay Rays), airing on Fox.
The most-watched U.S. Presidential Debate was September 2016’s first Trump vs. Hillary Clinton face off, which landed 84 million viewers.
The most-watched Oscars ever were in 1998, when “Titanic” won Best Picture and the show averaged 55.2 million viewers.
