Biden draws bigger inauguration ratings than Trump

President Joe Biden’s swearing-in ceremony yesterday drew nearly 40 million viewers across six networks, surpassing the 2017 inauguration of Donald Trump. The half-hour ceremony averaged 39.9 million viewers compared to the 38.4 million viewers who watched four years earlier, according to Nielsen. CNN bested the group during the key inaugural address, with 9.9 million people tuning in during that half hour. It's followed by ABC News' coverage, which averaged 7.7 million viewers, then NBC with 6.9 million, MSNBC with 6.5 million, CBS News with 6.1 million and Fox News with 2.7 million, during that same time. It's worth noting Fox New was the most-watched network for Trump's swearing in ceremony, with 11.8 million tuning in to the network in 2017 for the inaugural address. For the 11 p.m. to 4 p.m. programming block, CNN averaged 7.7 million viewers, growing by tiple digits from Trump's 2017 event and recording a significant uptick from Barack Obama's first swearing-in in 2009. CNN led in the coveted 25-54 age demographic with a total of 2.7 million TV viewers, which is nearly triple the size of its audience in the same demo from Inauguration Day 2017. Fox News, the outgoing President’s former network of choice, recorded 2.1 million total viewers during the 11 p.m. to 4 p.m. block. This compares to 8.8 million viewers that watched Trump's swearing in four years ago during the same time block.

Biden draws bigger inauguration ratings than Trump

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