President Donald Trump spoke to active duty service members at Fort Myer in Arlington, Va. Monday on his strategy for Afghanistan. | Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo. Broadcast networks drew 17.5 million viewers for Trump Afghanistan speech

About 17.5 million people watched President Donald Trump’s Monday night speech on Afghanistan across the four broadcast networks, according to an initial estimate from Nielsen.

Variety reports that an average of 6.2 million viewers watched the address on NBC, where it got a 1.4 rating among 18-49 year-olds; on ABC, it drew 4.7 million viewers and a 1.2 rating; 4.1 million people on average watched on CBS, with a 0.7 rating; and 2.5 million people tuned in to Fox, which had a 0.6 rating.


Those are preliminary numbers. Cable news ratings are expected to be released later on Tuesday.

About 40.8 million Americans over 10 networks watched President Barack Obama’s 2009 address on his Afghanistan war strategy, according to Ad Age. That figure includes viewers on the broadcast networks and cable news channels.