More viewers watched the president’s jobs speech than the NFL opener
posted at 5:30 pm on September 10, 2011 by Tina Korbe
I’m not sure whether to be encouraged or discouraged by this. On the one hand, it suggests at least 31 million people care enough about the jobs crisis and the need for pro-growth policies to tune into a platitudinous presidential address in the hopes, at least, of hearing something new. On the other hand, it suggests folks bought the White House hype, that this speech would be of grand significance. Either way, the numbers are interesting:
Eleven networks carried the president’s Thursday evening jobs speech, which began shortly after 7 p.m. EDT.
The NFL season opener between the Green Bay Packers and the New Orleans Saints, which began after Obama’s speech ended, drew some 27 million television viewers. …
The Republican presidential debate, which was on Wednesday when Obama had originally planned to speak, drew 5.4 million viewers for cable network MSNBC.
Obama’s most watched speech was his late night announcement about the killing of terrorist leader Osama bin Laden. That unscheduled appearance at 11:30 p.m. on May 1, was watched by more than 56 million people, according to Nielsen.
That last fact seems both obvious and important. It makes perfect sense that Obama’s announcement of Osama bin Laden’s death would draw a larger audience than a speech to announce predictable proposals. OBL’s death was true news and indisputably one of the most important developments in the war on terror since it began. The president rarely has news of such import to relate — but why all the pressure for the president to speak when he doesn’t have any news? And why so many viewers? In the 24/7 news cycle, in the never-ending quest to find some new tidbit of information to report, substance-less words necessarily become stories in themselves — not enough happens to fill the cycle otherwise. But, in the end, I find it a refreshing touchstone to remember that what happens is often more important than what is said. Or to put it in the words we’ve all heard from the time we’re little, “Actions speak louder than words.”
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What an irritating picture…
`Goes well with that irritating stat!
Good work! :)
golfmann on September 10, 2011 at 5:35 PM
Unions must have sent a mass email
cmsinaz on September 10, 2011 at 5:36 PM
Let’s get down to the nitty gritty. How many people
fell asleeppassed out during King Barry’s speech versus the football game?Here’s the cliff notes version of the speech in case anyone missed it.
Knucklehead on September 10, 2011 at 5:36 PM
Will the viewer number be unexpectedly revised downward on Monday?
Kissmygrits on September 10, 2011 at 5:37 PM
Would the numbers have been the same if there was no NFL opener?
ignatzk on September 10, 2011 at 5:38 PM
Republicans should have allowed the President to give his speech right before the GOP debate. It would have accomplished several things:
1) Drawn a bigger crowd than normal
2) Allowed the GOP candidates to trash the president’s useless speech and point out that we have heard all this before, he doesn’t know what to do, blah, blah, blah
3) Prevented MSNBC from their erotic, after speech lovefest because they would have had to immediately gone into the GOP debate. And seriously, how many people are going to watch and hour of the President, and two hour GOP debate and then stick around for another hour of political talk?
Boehner should have let the President have his time he wanted and then watch it blow up in his face in a spectacular way.
ramrants on September 10, 2011 at 5:38 PM
I had the speech on the TV ONLY because I was listening to Mark Levin trash it. If only my Obama Bingo card would have had a square marked “Right Now,” I would have won!
buzdburd on September 10, 2011 at 5:40 PM
I wish Hot Air had a edit button.
Or maybe I could preview my post before hitting submit?
Nahhh, they need an edit button.
ramrants on September 10, 2011 at 5:40 PM
They keep hoping that the President will say something of importance, yet he never does. Those 31 million are probably the ones out of jobs hoping they can hang on until they find one. Or they are the ones who are not looking anymore and hoping(there’s that word again)that unemployment benefits will be extended. This is just plain sick. This man has put too many Americans in such a bad position. Hopefully, they will figure out that he is actually doing this to Americans on purpose. He doesn’t give a rats @ss about making sure people get jobs.
BetseyRoss on September 10, 2011 at 5:41 PM
Gawkers.
They always seem to gather around an accident or a catastrophe.
JellyToast on September 10, 2011 at 5:41 PM
Schadenfreude on September 10, 2011 at 5:41 PM
One network carried game and it took 11 networks to compare to that for obama
ConservativePartyNow on September 10, 2011 at 5:42 PM
Great job Tina! The picture of Lenin/Mussolini is perfect!
Schadenfreude on September 10, 2011 at 5:44 PM
Don’t believe the numbers.
erp on September 10, 2011 at 5:44 PM
The more that see the incompetent boob the better.
SouthernGent on September 10, 2011 at 5:45 PM
Betsey-You just don’t understand. It’s not his fault! He loves (union) people! And besides. It’s Booosh’s fault! And you have hear SanFranNan state unequivicably that for every $1 of unemployment, it adds $1.80 to the economy. Why are you such a hater? Just take them at their word!! /sarc
buzdburd on September 10, 2011 at 5:45 PM
The rationale is clear. Forget pay-per-view, it was a slow-motion trainwreck snuff film that was FREE!
Who wouldn’t be enticed to watch?
singlemalt 18 on September 10, 2011 at 5:46 PM
erp-Are you saying you don’t believe the numbers that are put out by Obama’s LameStreamMedia? You mean like the 9.1 unemployment number? (closer to 20%) Gee. Next thing you will say is that Obama (Teh Won) has a Social Security card that emanated from Connecticut!
buzdburd on September 10, 2011 at 5:49 PM
Liberal math
31 million on 11 networks > 27 million on 1 network
Just what else was on that one could watch during the speech. During the speech people had four options: Watch the speech, Watch a rerun on some other channel, Turn off the TV or and or bang your head on the wall.
tjexcite on September 10, 2011 at 5:50 PM
I do not believe this. That is all.
baldylox on September 10, 2011 at 5:51 PM
Nobody in Southern California from south Orange County watched it – because all 1.4 million SDG&E customers were without power from 3:30pm to around midnight. Thanks to our socialist anti-power plant overlords.
peski on September 10, 2011 at 5:53 PM
I know a couple million that did not watch. No power.
GarandFan on September 10, 2011 at 5:54 PM
Nobody in ALL of California watched it because it was on at 4pm local time!
buzdburd on September 10, 2011 at 5:54 PM
My guess is most who did 1 also did 4.
BKeyser on September 10, 2011 at 5:55 PM
Libs watch more TV, or have the TV on and ignore it.
NaCly dog on September 10, 2011 at 5:56 PM
Hearty guffaw! Good show! ;)
honsy on September 10, 2011 at 6:01 PM
That is why the country is in so much trouble: there are so many morons.
bayview on September 10, 2011 at 6:02 PM
Wow! Awesome article.
csdeven on September 10, 2011 at 6:02 PM
312,184,628 -31,000,000 = 281,184,628 who did NOT watch his speech.
thebrokenrattle on September 10, 2011 at 6:03 PM
Neither do I …
tbear44 on September 10, 2011 at 6:07 PM
What would the numbers be if the NFL opener was on 11 channels and the President on only one?
Left Coast Right Mind on September 10, 2011 at 6:08 PM
Arrogance? More like megalomania. This is the guy who said the planet would heal and the oceans recede after he was elected.
Wethal on September 10, 2011 at 6:11 PM
Everyone I know that watched Obama’s speech were suffered from “misophonia” listening to him. I don’t think he did himself any favors.
Esmerelda on September 10, 2011 at 6:16 PM
Everyone I know that watched Obama’s speech suffered from “misophonia” just listening to him. I don’t think he did himself any favors.
Esmerelda on September 10, 2011 at 6:17 PM
I am pretty certain that at least a quarter of the people who were supposedly watching Obama’s speech had the volume down, waiting for Wheel of Fortune to start. He didn’t get a bump from the speech that I can see.
MitchFlorida on September 10, 2011 at 6:18 PM
I had the mute on, and just watched the hilarious comments on the HA thread.
Wethal on September 10, 2011 at 6:21 PM
Nice link (+10)
What Peter Wehner fails to mention is that Barry was Teh One making those comparisons!
Teh assclown is getting what he deserves (which begs the question: What did America do to deserve Barry?).
pain train on September 10, 2011 at 6:21 PM
I heard those who watched learned the Abe Lincoln founded the Republican Party.
BHO Jonestown on September 10, 2011 at 6:21 PM
No, really, it means the country doesn’t give a damn about Green Bay and NOLA…
…bring on Dallas and Pittsburgh, and the story is totally different
ladyingray on September 10, 2011 at 6:21 PM
Alternate headline:
People are stupid
~~~~~or~~~~~
Leopard Unexpecdedly Doesn’t Change Its Stripes; Millions Disappointed
hillbillyjim on September 10, 2011 at 6:23 PM
Easy answer: Watching that speech beat 90% of the “sitcoms” available on TV today.
Red Cloud on September 10, 2011 at 6:24 PM
This was Barky’s lowest-rated PT speech. Meanwhile, the NFL is very happy with their ratings for Thursday’s game.
“NEW YORK — The NFL regular-season opener between the New Orleans Saints and Green Bay Packers was the second-highest rated season kickoff game.” – Yahoo
“President Obama’s jobs speech represented the lowest ratings he’s received for any address to a joint session of Congress of his presidency.” – Philip Klein, Beltway Confidential
joejm65 on September 10, 2011 at 6:24 PM
Well we did not watch so we are on the football list. That picture of bho makes me sick to my stomach! I have seen someone else in history that did that pose and it did not end well for all those who were in that persons nation.
L
letget on September 10, 2011 at 6:25 PM
And yet, when the night was over, more people had faith in Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers than Obama.
Aardvark on September 10, 2011 at 6:27 PM
The networks are still in summer reruns, too.
Wethal on September 10, 2011 at 6:30 PM
well, it will be interesting to see how people react to a demagogue in the 21st century. Hopefully not well.
it has been a while since i’ve been over to rassmusen…boy he’s is pretty bad shape. only 20 percent are strongly positive and his passion index has been south of -20 for a long time.
i assume he’ll get a bounce from the left, so the 20 will go up a few points…but this will be interesting
r keller on September 10, 2011 at 6:31 PM
Spank the once!
carbon_footprint on September 10, 2011 at 6:34 PM
And they want a refund if they were paying attention. It’s good people watch the speeches. It will let them see exactly what they voted for.
kim roy on September 10, 2011 at 6:34 PM
I’m glad so many watched it. The more people see this guy speak, the more disgusted they are with him. Now, as they sloooowly become aware of the fact that THERE IS NO BILL to “pass right now,” they’ll scratch their heads a little bit, and then say to themselves, “What a joke this guy is.”
Folks, really, play along here. Barack Obama thinks he can run his campaign on arguing that Congress won’t pass a bill that doesn’t exist. Now only two things can happen: 1) the president puts forth a bill, and we find out it’ll cost billions and do nothing; or 2) he never puts forth a bill, in which case the “pass the bill” narrative quickly loses its, um, effect.
Rational Thought on September 10, 2011 at 6:35 PM
Dittoe
or Dito
Ugh Ditto
CW on September 10, 2011 at 6:40 PM
This, STARDUST! and Count It! are the HA meme phrases of the year!
lol.
catmman on September 10, 2011 at 6:45 PM
“So what?” – Rick Perry’s Evil Finger
catmman on September 10, 2011 at 6:46 PM
Suggested headline revision..
“90% Of Those Living in the United States DID NOT Watch the President’s Job Speech”
adplusone on September 10, 2011 at 6:46 PM
When he’s on every channel it’s pretty easy to get good ratings.
Cindy Munford on September 10, 2011 at 6:46 PM
31 million viewers from 11 channels? I dunno, that doesn’t really sound that impressive to me.
ButterflyDragon on September 10, 2011 at 6:47 PM
Speech? Good football game, I’ll tell ya that.
tgharris on September 10, 2011 at 6:49 PM
I find it interesting that now that he wants to be reelected, Obama is telling the Country in his speeches, that the USA is the greatest Country in the world. This after bit**ing & moaning for 3 years about how we just can’t expect to be number 1 anymore. What a poor excuse for a leader this guy is.
Susanboo on September 10, 2011 at 6:50 PM
That photo of him…. can we name it
The Golden Loogie Pose ?
Key West Reader on September 10, 2011 at 6:50 PM
Obama still does big ratings among Obama voters.
There’s a huge inclination among people I know who never gave Bush or Clinton five minutes to hang on Obama’s every word. They like to pretend they have a big, serious president now, even moderates.
Whether that’s due to broad appeal or an intense following, I can’t say.
HitNRun on September 10, 2011 at 6:52 PM
I’m not buyin’ it.
How many millions watched from one tv. Football ball parties, bars, ect.
And of the 31 million that did, it was to watch to watch the crap sandwich for entertainment purposes..ie..drinking games.
katy on September 10, 2011 at 6:59 PM
Pass this bill. Remix
/That bill that doesn’t exist.
Key West Reader on September 10, 2011 at 6:59 PM
Good grief…I’m stuttering on my keyboard.
katy on September 10, 2011 at 7:00 PM
Referring back to Luntz’s focus group. I believe there were 30 people involved. Split down the middle. Half voted for McCain, half for Obama.
All of them, but for one, said they felt the speech was more about his re-election, than jobs. I agree with them…and I suspect those who watched, believe that too. I could be wrong, but I really think the country is waking up.
capejasmine on September 10, 2011 at 7:03 PM
Well, my 16 Y/O son complained that the O’Hole’s speech was carried on every channel here in Phoenix. He ended up watching an episode of “Magic School Bus” on one of the PBS channels, in order to avoid a severe case of BS induced nausea.
In contrast, the football game was on only one channel. Just saying….
JannyMae on September 10, 2011 at 7:11 PM
Me thinks,this is what should be spun,
Update: The NFL Game averged 27.2 million on one network over ~3 hours. The Presidents address averaged 31.5 on 11 networks over less than an hour.
**********************
http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2011/08/31/sept-8-presidential-address-vs-packerssaints-nfl-opener-who-ya-got-poll/102063
==========================================================
canopfor on September 10, 2011 at 7:16 PM
I didn’t watch either one.
Dasher on September 10, 2011 at 7:17 PM
I watched that Luntz group, too, and I was stunned. They were utterly unimpressed with the speech. He couldn’t find a person in the room who wanted to defend Obama, and it was a diverse group. I am quite sure we’ll see polls on Monday from the LSM showing some kind of bounce for Barry, but it’ll be garbage. Those folks Luntz had on watched every word of the speech, half of them were Obama voters, and they thought it stunk up the room and was a campaign speech. I have no doubt the rest of America felt that way, too.
Rational Thought on September 10, 2011 at 7:18 PM
Because the E-A-G-L-E-S weren’t playing.
mankai on September 10, 2011 at 7:25 PM
Bad enough his face was the “feature” on Yahoo all the next day. Every single time you signed-on, there his was. Is there a secret formula in this; how to avoid Obama’s picture?
betsyz on September 10, 2011 at 7:32 PM
I’m not quite sure I’m understanding the significance? If the speech preceded the NFL broadcast, where is the comparison? I could understand if the broadcast were competing against each other.
stacman on September 10, 2011 at 7:32 PM
The hubby said he heard there was a local poll done by one of our networks, here. About half said the jobs bill would do more harm, about half said it would do nothing, and 1% said they thought it would help. Those are some pretty devastating numbers.
JannyMae on September 10, 2011 at 7:35 PM
Well, that will give Scooter’s ego a big boost.
portlandon on September 10, 2011 at 7:37 PM
Jobs Bill.
Heh, that’s a good one.
hillbillyjim on September 10, 2011 at 7:39 PM
.
I read the Milbank article from 2008 that Peter Wehner references in his “Wings of Wax” piece. This Ø has been an utter arrogant piece of work from the gitgo, no doubt about it.
.
“Vero Possumus”
.
Remember?
ExpressoBold on September 10, 2011 at 7:42 PM
ha ha…..Soooo many people saw him being an idiot.
Oh, but what a COMMANDING idiot he was!!!
oy
bridgetown on September 10, 2011 at 7:42 PM
My wife and I are in the habit of watching the news at dinner, but the President preempted it, so we watched. When we finished eating, my wife wandered off, I loaded the dishwasher, and the President kept talking.
I think the President said that he’ll gladly pay Tuesday for a hamburger today. High ratings don’t mean he’s popular.
ddh on September 10, 2011 at 7:53 PM
ExpressoBold, indeed.
Schadenfreude on September 10, 2011 at 7:55 PM
.
Lemme see if I can clear it up for you… Ø and his “jobs” speech (really, a campaign speech) which was carried on 11 networks got a total of 31 million viewers while a very exciting football game following just after on only one network could only garner 27M viewers, only 87.1% of Ø’s viewership.
.
Actually, if you were to have a head-to-head comparison, just for chuckles, the FBI would be looking for you instantly, just to see if you have anything to do with that Solyndra operation and if you know where any of the nearly $500M is located or how it was spent.
.
So yeah, while your approach makes more sense, it doesn’t make Democrats happy and it doesn’t play well with the media spin cycle that they are trying to adopt. OK, so, yeah, NBC was really happy with the evening’s stats and others were co-opted into it. Maybe other question should be, did 10 networks get screwed and NBC get most TV viewers on Thursday night. You should ask Jeffrey Immelt or an independent service that counts TV viewership by network.
ExpressoBold on September 10, 2011 at 7:59 PM
The 31 million that watched thought he would tell them how to find a job.
rukiddingme on September 10, 2011 at 8:01 PM
Hello! DVR/TiVO. We watched neither.
Dingbat63 on September 10, 2011 at 8:04 PM
Two boring shows, one could be important.
I like football but I don’t even watch the Superbowl pregame show.
Slowburn on September 10, 2011 at 8:06 PM
.
The comments from that 2008 Reuters article are absolutely hilarious, given what we now know and have experienced since then. Those chuckleheads would hate to be reminded of their adoration in 2008, wouldn’t they?
ExpressoBold on September 10, 2011 at 8:06 PM
Will be seeing if his poll numbers go up. If they don’t that means no one bought BO’s BS.
Jdripper on September 10, 2011 at 8:08 PM
The game was on the NFL Network, right?
Not everyone gets that channel with the basic or even expanded basic cable package.
reaganaut on September 10, 2011 at 8:11 PM
I wonder if this time, anyone learned anything…
Kini on September 10, 2011 at 8:12 PM
.
Nope, NBC.
ExpressoBold on September 10, 2011 at 8:17 PM
And I watched neither.
Dandapani on September 10, 2011 at 8:27 PM
People are desperate . Plain and simple.
CW on September 10, 2011 at 8:30 PM
in central timezone everyone was on the way home, or fixing dinner or even at happy hour. those numbers seem a bit high
chasdal on September 10, 2011 at 8:33 PM
30 million unemployed people wanted to know where their jobs were.
faraway on September 10, 2011 at 8:33 PM
How many in Green Bay?
Ronnie on September 10, 2011 at 8:34 PM
The real stat to know is how many viewers watch that time slot on those 11 networks on a normal night?
Ronnie on September 10, 2011 at 8:37 PM
People have dropped cable as they cannot afford it. So unless they like football there was nothing else to watch…just a guess.
CW on September 10, 2011 at 8:42 PM
Liberal math
31 million on 11 networks > 27 million on 1 network
Just what else was on that one could watch during the speech. During the speech people had four options: Watch the speech, Watch a rerun on some other channel, Turn off the TV or and or bang your head on the wall.
tjexcite on September 10, 2011 at 5:50 PM
This was so fundamentally obvious, I don’t know why people don’t *get* it.
sybilll on September 10, 2011 at 9:01 PM
I never realized there are that many masochists.
Dhuka on September 10, 2011 at 9:47 PM
There’s an anomaly in the mix.
Power went out to the Southwest USA at about 3:45 p.m and the power up was spotty at best.
5 to 6 million homes without power puts an asterisk on the numbers.
The bright side to the power out is that I didn’t have to hear the incompetent boob talk!
DSchoen on September 10, 2011 at 9:50 PM
yea but, what were the Magic School Bus numbers?
golfmann on September 10, 2011 at 10:18 PM
Most people watched the speech just to confirm to themselves that our president is a moron.
tbear44 on September 10, 2011 at 11:08 PM
I’m not sure whether to be encouraged or discouraged by this. On the one hand, it suggests at least 31 million people care enough about the jobs crisis and the need for pro-growth policies to tune into a platitudinous presidential address in the hopes, at least, of hearing something new.
On the other hand, it suggests folks bought the White House hype, that this speech would be of grand significance. Either way, the numbers are interesting:
53% of American voters are TEETERS?
PappyD61 on September 10, 2011 at 11:10 PM
And they were not disappointed.
Aardvark on September 10, 2011 at 11:29 PM
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