Total television viewership of President Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday fell to a 15-year low, dropping off by more than 20 million since his first address in 2009. AP notes that the president's 31.7 million viewers is a low that hasn't been attained since Clinton’s largely tuned-out final appearance before Congress in 2000.
While the White House claims 1.2 million people viewed its "enhanced" online version, suggesting online viewership might be in part to blame, most cite the president's "shellacking" at the polls in 2014 and his lame duck status as the main reasons for the viewership drop off.
Here are the Nielsen ratings for SOTUs dating back to Clinton's first term (note, some columns removed for formatting purposes):
| Date | Combined Household Rating | Combined No. of Households | Combined No. of Viewers | President |
| 1/18/2014 | 20.7 | 23,949,843 | 33,299,172 | Obama |
| 2/12/2013 | 21.8 | 24,767,047 | 33,497,607 | Obama |
| 1/24/2012 | 24 | 27,569,423 | 37,752,613 | Obama |
| 1/25/2011 | 26.6 | 30,871,688 | 42,789,947 | Obama |
| 1/27/2010 | 29.8 | 34,182,725 | 48,009,595 | Obama |
| 2/24/2009* | 32.5 | 37,185,000 | 52,373,000 | Obama |
| 1/28/2008 | 24.7 | 27,702,000 | 37,515,000 | G.W Bush |
| 1/23/2007 | 29.6 | 32,968,000 | 45,486,000 | G.W. Bush |
| 1/31/2006 | 26.9 | 29,578,000 | 41,699,000 | G.W. Bush |
| 2/2/2005 | 25.2 | 27,699,000 | 38,382,000 | G. W. Bush |
| 1/20/2004 | 28 | 30,286,000 | 43,411,000 | G. W. Bush |
| 1/28/2003 | 38.8 | 41,447,000 | 62,061,000 | G. W. Bush |
| 1/29/2002 | 33.6 | 35,547,000 | 51,773,000 | G.W. Bush |
| 2/27/2001* | 27.6 | 28,201,000 | 39,793,000 | G.W. Bush |
| 1/27/2000 | 22.4 | 22,536,000 | 31,478,000 | Clinton |
| 1/19/1999 | 31 | 30,700,000 | 43,500,000 | Clinton |
| 1/27/1998 | 37.2 | 36,513,000 | 53,077,000 | Clinton |
| 2/4/1997 | 28.4 | 27,600,000 | 41,100,000 | Clinton |
| 1/23/1996 | 29.6 | 28,400,000 | 40,900,000 | Clinton |
| 1/24/1995 | 29.5 | 28,100,000 | 42,200,000 | Clinton |
| 1/25/1994 | 32.9 | 31,000,000 | 45,800,000 | Clinton |
| 2/17/1993* | 44.3 | 41,200,000 | 66,900,000 | Clinton |
