Trump inauguration pulls in 26 million viewers as Fox News dominates
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With Trump making his triumphant return back to the White House, the right-wing network drew almost half of the entire television viewing audience for the ceremony across seven cable and broadcast news networks. According to Nielsen’s early data ratings, which were released on Tuesday afternoon, Fox News was the top destination for those who wanted to see President Donald Trump sworn into office for the second time.
Between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. ET, which encompasses Trump’s swearing-in ceremony and first address as president, Fox News drew 10.3 million total viewers and 2 million in the coveted advertising demographic of adults aged 25-54. The total, if it stands, would be the second-highest-rated inauguration in the channel’s history.
On the other hand, CNN pulled in just 1.7 million viewers overall and a demo audience of 534,000, which is the second-lowest inauguration in the network’s history if the numbers hold up. MSNBC, meanwhile, delivered its lowest-rated inauguration day, averaging just 848,000 total viewers and 104,000 in the key demo.
Among the broadcast networks, ABC led in total viewers with 4.7 million, while NBC pulled ahead in the demographic with 1.2 million. On Monday, 26.3 million viewers watched Trump take the oath of office across seven different networks, including Fox Business Network. In the demo, roughly 5.9 million tuned in.
Nielsen will release its final ratings on Wednesday morning, including additional networks that carried the ceremony. Still, it seems likely that Trump’s second inauguration will not draw as large of a television audience as either of the past two ceremonies.
