Donald Trump is getting plaudits for his first joint-session Congressional address, but he may be pained to know that Barack Obama has him beat for viewers.

Trump's address - in which he ditched his boxy suit and boastful rhetoric for a more presidential figure - drew in a 27.8 Nielsen rating, according to early figures.

But that falls 17 per cent short of Barack Obama's first outing in February 24, 2009, when he drew in overnight figures of 33.4, Variety reported.

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Ratings: Donald Trump's Congressional debut scored 17 per cent lower than Barack Obama in his 2009 joint session. Trump pulled in 27.8% of available viewers; Obama got 33.4%

TOP TRUMPS Here's how Donald Trump's 46.82 million viewers broke down across the nine networks that aired his speech: F ox News 10.77 million viewers NBC 9.14 million CBS 7.16 million ABC 6.07 million CNN 3.94 million Univision 3.4 million Fox 3.08 million MSNBC 2.68 million Fox Business Network 593,000 Advertisement

One Nielsen point is equivalent to one per cent of the available audience in a given night.

In raw figures, that means Trump pulled in 46.82 million viewers across nine networks: ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox, Fox Business, Fox News, MSNBC, NBC and Univision.

Obama, meanwhile, garnered 52.4 million viewers over ten networks: ABC, CBS, CNBC, CNN, Fox, Fox News, MSNBC, NBC, Telemundo and Univision.

Unsurprisingly Trump pulled in the most viewers on Fox News with a whopping 10.77 million viewers.

Meanwhile CNN - which has been highly critical of the president - hauled in just 3.94 million, putting it behind Fox, NBC, CBS and ABC.

Trump's speech was feted by pundits, who noted that he shelved his typical off-the-cuff firebrand rhetoric for a more mature, stately and uplifting tone.

'From now on, America will be empowered by our aspirations, not burdened by our fears, inspired by the future, not bound by failures of the past, and guided by a vision, not blinded by our doubts,' he said.

'I am asking all citizens to embrace this renewal of the American spirit. I am asking all members of Congress to join me in dreaming big, and bold, and daring things for our country.

'I am asking everyone watching tonight to seize this moment. Believe in yourselves. Believe in your future. And believe, once more, in America.'

Celebrated: However, Trump's speech was celebrated for its more uplifting tone - and he scored points for bringing on the wife (second from left) of dead Navy operator William Owens

Trump - wearing a fitted suit and tie rather than the schlubby off-the-peg numbers he usually dons - also brought out the wife of US Navy Special operator William 'Ryan' Owens, who was killed in a heavily criticized raid on Yemen.

Carryn Owens was seen looking tearfully up as Trump branded Ryan 'a warrior, and a hero' - a turn that led to a standing ovation.

Even CNN wrote after the speech: 'Trump adopted a statesmanlike cadence, hitting notes of inspiration.'

It added: 'For once, this most unorthodox of politicians struck a conventional presidential posture as he sought to stabilize his administration after a tumultuous five weeks in office.'

There may be one silver lining in the ratings, for Trump however: His speech still beat Obama's final State of the Union address, which pulled in 31.3 million viewers.

Presidents' State of the Union addresses rarely perform as well as their joint-session addresses, which are the same thing in all but name.