11.6 million American viewed Biden’s address to Congress, early data suggests

President Joe Biden’s address to Congress on Wednesday night drew around 11.6 million viewers on the four main U.S. broadcast television networks, as per preliminary Nielsen rating data cited by Deadline Hollywood.

Early numbers do not include the viewers of cable networks but it indicates a fall in viewership as compared to the former president, Donald Trump’s first address to the U.S. Congress, which attracted 48 million viewers in 2017.

Biden’s rating number suggests TV audience on Comcast Corp’s NBC, ViacomCBS Inc.’s CBS, Walt Disney Co.’s ABC, and Fox.

In his speech, Biden proposed the $1.8 trillion “American Families Plan” and appealed with Republican lawmakers to work with him on the divisive issue.

For the past year, the TV audiences for live events has fallen sharply.