Trump inauguration draws 24.6 million viewers, a steep drop from 2021 and 2017

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Viewers for President Trump’s second inaugural ceremony in 2021 attracted significantly fewer people compared to his initial inauguration in 2017, as well as the event held by President Biden the same year.

Or, more conversational:

Turns out, there were a lot less folks tuning into watch President Trump’s second inauguration than those who watched his first one back in 2017 or even President Biden’s ceremony in 2021.

According to Nielsen’s data, the festivities for Trump were watched by an average of 24.6 million viewers across 15 networks between 10:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. Eastern time. This is a drop of 27% compared to four years ago, and a decrease of 20% from Trump’s first inauguration.

For presidents who have been re-elected after serving one term, attendance at their inauguration has historically been lower compared to their first swearing-in ceremony. However, there’s no precedent for this situation with Trump, as he is the first president since Grover Cleveland in 1892 to be elected to a second nonconsecutive term.

Hollywood Inc.

As a movie enthusiast, I was on the edge of my seat throughout the election night, with the networks hesitant to make a call on the winner past midnight. However, it seemed like DDHQ was hinting at a Trump victory from early in the evening.

During those hours (11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Eastern), viewership of cable news networks was divided along political lines. Fox News, with a conservative bent, attracted approximately 10.3 million viewers. This occurred when Trump and Vice President JD Vance were being sworn in and the president delivered remarks in the Capitol Rotunda. During the same event, CNN garnered an average of 1.7 million viewers, while MSNBC, leaning more towards progressivism, had around 848,000 viewers.

When I tuned in to catch a glimpse of the inauguration ceremony in 2021, a record-breaking 40 million people were there too, making it an unforgettable moment. However, during the same quarter hour this year, although the viewership was still impressive at 34.4 million, it didn’t quite reach those historic numbers.

Additionally, numerous spectators tuned in to streaming services to catch parts of Donald Trump’s inauguration. LiveNOW from Fox Television Stations drew an average of 1.7 million viewers during the swearing-in ceremony, making it the most-watched channel on YouTube at that time. Moreover, Trump’s own YouTube stream peaked with 704,798 concurrent viewers.

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2025-01-22 03:31