NEW YORK (AP) — President Joe Biden’s first address to Congress was seen by an estimated 26.9 million viewers across 16 television networks. The Nielsen company says it was the smallest audience for the yearly presidential speech since at least 1993, when it began keeping detailed records on the event. The previous low was the 31.3 million who watched President Barack Obama’s final State of the Union address in 2016. Biden’s speech compares to the 37.2 million who saw President Donald Trump last year. Biden’s speech was likely hurt by a general drop in TV viewership and its late April timing, later than the usual midwinter time for these addresses.
