You’d figure MSNBC and CNN would have done much better considering Dems are more inclined to watch an Obama speech.

Via Variety:

Fox News flexed its muscles as the most popular cable news outlet Tuesday night, as its coverage of the State of the Union address out-drew the combined tune-in of rivals CNN and MSNBC. It was also the only one to be up vs. last year’s speech.

According to Nielsen estimates for roughly 9:14-10:20 p.m. ET, Fox News Channel averaged 4,718,853 viewers — more than double MSNBC (2,292,169) and CNN (2,081,431). FNC held a sizable advantage in the key news demo of adults 25-54 as well (1,197,554), with CNN ranking second by this measure (762,450) and MSNBC third (752,054).

From 9 to 11 p.m., FNC, whose coverage was anchored by Bret Baier, averaged 4.51 million viewers, followed by 2.17 million for MSNBC and 1.88 million for CNN.

It was a much tighter race a year ago, with Fox News only narrowly leading CNN in total viewers and finishing third in adults 25-54. Compared to the 2013 State of the Union address, held in February, Fox News was up 28% in total viewers (from 3.68 million) and 25% in adults 25-54 (from 956,000), while CNN was down more than 40% in both categories and MSNBC was off by more than 20 in both.

This was CNN’s least-watched SOTU since 2005 in both total viewers and the 25-54 demo, and it was MSNBC’s lowest since 2008.

HT: Drudge