ABC NEWS IS NO. 1 BROADCAST NETWORK FOR COVERAGE OF THE STATE OF THE UNION, BEATING NBC BY 1.4 MILLION AND CBS BY 1.7 MILLION — ABC WINNING IN TOTAL VIEWERS, ADULTS 25-54 AND ADULTS 18-49, WITH MORE VIEWERS THAN CNN AND MS NOW COMBINED

ABC News’ special coverage of the 2026 State of the Union address (9:12-11:00 p.m. EST), anchored by “World News Tonight” anchor and managing editor David Muir and featuring ABC News’ powerhouse political team, ranked No. 1 among the broadcast networks in all key target demos: Total Viewers (4.912 million), Adults 25-54 (1.125 million) and Adults 18-49 (886,000), based on Live+Same Day Neilsen Preliminary Data.

• ABC News’ coverage took the top spot across the board among the broadcast networks for the 6th consecutive year, including the three previous State of the Union addresses (2022-2024) and the two most recent presidential addresses (2021 and 2025).
• ABC News’ outdelivered NBC’s coverage of the State of the Union (9:12-11:00 p.m. EST) by double digits in Total Viewers (+41%/+1.430 million – 4.912 million vs. 3.482 million), Adults 25-54 (+17%/+161,000 – 1.125 million vs. 964,000) and Adults 18-49 (+28%/+194,000 – 886,000 vs. 692,000).
• ABC News also outperformed CBS’ coverage of the State of the Union (9:12-11:00 p.m. EST) by double digits in Total Viewers (+51%/+1.650 million – 4.912 million vs. 3.262 million), Adults 25-54 (+45%/+347,000 – 1.125 million vs. 778,000) and Adults 18-49 (+49%/+293,000 – 886,000 vs. 593,000).
• ABC News’ more than doubled Fox’s coverage of the State of the Union (9:15-11:00 p.m. EST) in Total Viewers (+117%/+2.653 million – 4.912 million vs. 2.259 million), while nearly doubling in Adults 25-54 (+86%/+521,000 – 1.125 million vs. 604,000) and Adults 18-49 (+98%/+438,000 – 886,000 vs. 448,000).
• ABC News’ powerhouse performance (4.912 million, 1.125 million and 886,000, respectively) beat the combined deliveries of the State of the Union coverage on CNN (2.047 million, 611,000, and 476,000, respectively, 9:15-11:00 p.m. EST) and MSNOW (2.268 million, 297,000 and 153,000, respectively, 9:15-11:00 p.m. EST) by double digits across the board: Total Viewers (+14%/+597,000 – 4.912 million vs. 4.315 million), Adults 25-54 (+24%/+217,000 – 1.125 million vs. 908,000) and Adults 18-49 (+41%/+257,000 – 886,000 vs. 629,000).

Source: Nielsen Preliminary Data, Live + Same Day; SOTU: Fast National Program Ratings for 2/24/26, based on Panel only, excluding Out of Home (OOH) viewing. SOTU for 2023 and 2024 and Presidential Address for 2025 based on Big Data Plus Panel Ratings.

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