Broadcast Audience for Obama's ISIS Speech Three Times That of Cable

WASHINGTON– Three times as many Americans tuned into broadcast television news channels than cable news networks to watch President Barack Obama’s Sept. 10 speech regarding U.S. military actions against the extremist group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, according to recently released Nielsen data cited by the National Association of Broadcasters.

According to Nielsen, more than 34 million people watched the speech as it aired live on 14 networks from 9 to 9:15 p.m. A total of 25.9 million people watched the speech on a broadcast network—ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, AZTECA America, MundoFox, Telemundo and Unimas—while 8.4 million people watched it on a cable network, i.e., Al Jazeera America, CNN, CNBC, Fox Business Network, Fox News Channel and MSNBC.