Trump’s second inauguration had lowest US TV audience since 2013, shows report

Inauguration audiences have varied greatly over the decades, from a peak of 41.8 million for Ronald Reagan’s 1981 ceremony to a low of 15.5 million for George W. Bush’s second term in 2004.

According to news agency AP, the extended coverage of Trump’s inauguration may have impacted the average viewership. Nielsen’s 24.6 million figure represents the average number of viewers between 10:30 am and 7:30 pm ET across 15 networks. Shorter broadcast windows in past inaugurations likely led to higher averages, as audiences tend to dwindle later in the day.

Fox News Channel drew the largest audience during the key swearing-in period from 11:30 am to 1 pm, with 10.3 million viewers. ABC followed with 4.7 million, NBC had 4.4 million, CBS drew 4.1 million, CNN recorded 1.7 million, and MSNBC attracted 848,000 viewers.

In contrast, four years earlier, CNN and MSNBC had a combined 13.4 million viewers for Biden’s inauguration, compared to just 2.4 million on Fox News.

Nielsen did not provide data for how many viewers watched Trump’s inauguration during the more traditional coverage window ending at 4 pm, a cutoff used in previous ceremonies.