Trump State of Union ratings below Obama

President Donald Trump's first State of the Union address drew fewer television viewers than President Barack Obama's first such address, according to the ratings.

On broadcast, Tuesday's coverage of the speech drew 7.1 million viewers on NBC, 7 million on CBS, 5.4 million on ABC, and 3.6 million on Fox for a combined 23.1 million viewers.

Fox News topped both its cable and broadcast competition by a wide margin with 11.5 million viewers tuning into the network's coverage of the speech. CNN was second with 3.1 million, with MSNBC drawing 2.7 million. That means that Trump's address drew 40.4 million viewers across broadcast and cable

Obama's first State of the Union in 2010 drew 48 million viewers across broadcast and cable, while his first address before a joint session of Congress in February 2009 drew 52.4 million viewers. That means that Trump trailed Obama's first State of the Union by approximately 16 per cent in total viewers.