The Weekend grew 41 percent and 47 percent in total audience (along with 41 percent and 37 percent in adults 25-54) on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
Although CNN drew 690,000 in the 2 p.m. hour, it was the only major cable news outlet to grow within the same Friday timeslot compared to its previous five Fridays.
Biden’s Mar. 7 address is the first time a president in the fourth year of his first term has seen State of the Union viewership increase compared to the year prior.
For South Carolina from 7-9 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 24, the three major cable news outlets — Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN — combined to deliver 4.32 million viewers...
All news outlets spiked upon live breaking news coverage with Fox News — already the weekday afternoon leader in cable news — leading in total viewers.
The press conference was not tabulated as a separate telecast by Nielsen on cable, but it was still evident that each of the three major cable news outlets got a sizable boost from the event.
Borrell Associates projects that figure will climb considerably over the next four years as the industry undergoes what it describes as a "great reshuffling."