President Joe Biden's recent news conference, held on Thursday evening, garnered significant attention with 24.2 million viewers tuning in across eight broadcast and cable television networks, as reported by Nielsen data.
The nearly one-hour news conference took place on the sidelines of the NATO summit and was broadcasted by major networks including NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, and Univision. These networks interrupted their regular programming to air special reports on the event. Additionally, the news conference was carried by various cable networks.
During the news conference, President Biden fielded nearly a dozen questions from the press corps. This comes at a time when there is increasing scrutiny over his health and a growing number of Democrats are calling for him to withdraw from the 2024 race following his perceived poor performance in a debate last month.
It is worth noting that the June 27 debate between President Biden and former President Donald Trump was a significant television event, attracting 51.27 million viewers across 22 networks. This debate stands out as the most-watched non-sports program of the year on television so far.
The debate, along with the subsequent news coverage, has injected a much-needed boost in viewership for television news. This surge in interest comes at a time when television news ratings have been relatively subdued throughout the year, despite the backdrop of a high-stakes presidential election.
