No wonder the Big 3 balked at going live with President Bush on Tuesday.
His speech defending his Iraq war strategy drew just 23.1 million viewers – lowest for any televised Bush speech or news conference since he took office, according to a ratings chart provided by Nielsen Media Research.
The speech ran live from 8 to 8:30 p.m. on ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC.
Bush’s previous low on the Nielsen chart was a 15-minute address on stem-cell research on Aug. 9, 2001, with 31.6 million viewers on six networks.
Just for giggles, a few other nuggets from the list – Bill Clinton’s seven-minute apology about Monica Lewinsky at 10 p.m. on Aug. 17, 1998, is tops with 67.6 million viewers on eight networks.
And 15-minute addresses about the disputed 2000 election by then-Gov. Bush and Vice President Al Gore on Dec. 13, 2000, drew 63.5 million and 66.2 million viewers, respectively, on seven networks.
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