Trump inauguration pulls in just 24.6 million viewers, way down from Biden in 2021

While Trump made his triumphant return to the White House, viewership was down compared to Joe Biden’s ceremony in 2021, which drew nearly 40 million. Fox News, unsurprisingly, led the pack with over 10 million viewers.

Fox News was the top destination for those who wanted to see President Donald Trump sworn into office for the second time, according to ratings released by Nielsen. On the flip side, though, the numbers show that Trump’s ceremony drew significantly fewer viewers than Joe Biden’s inauguration back in 2021 —pulling in an audience of just 24.6 million for the day.

Between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. ET, which encompassed 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. That total represents the second-highest-rated inauguration in the channel’s history.

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. MSNBC, meanwhile, delivered its lowest-rated inauguration day, averaging just 848,000 total viewers and 104,000 in the key demographic group.

Among the broadcast networks, ABC led in total viewers with 4.7 million, with NBC (4.4 million) and CBS (4.1 million) close behind. NBC pulled ahead in the demographic with 1.2 million. During the heart of the inauguration ceremony, 26.3 million viewers watched Trump take the oath of office across seven different networks, including Fox Business Network. Roughly 5.9 million from the key demographic group tuned in between 11:30 and 1 p.m.

According to Nielsen, the actual swearing-in ceremony —which took place between 11:45 and 12:15 — peaked with a total audience of 34.4 million viewers across 15 networks.

President-elect Donald Trump, from left, takes the oath of office (Kevin Lamarque/AP) (AP)

Nearly 40 million people watched Biden deliver his first address as president in 2021 across the broadcast and cable news networks, which was up slightly from the 38.3 million who watched Trump give his first speech after being sworn into office in 2017. That year, Fox News – with a Republican entering office – was in its natural top spot and led the charge with 12 million viewers.

Nielsen estimated that an average of 33.8 million people across 17 networks tuned into the entire presidential inauguration in 2021, which was aired on television from 10 a.m. ET to 4 p.m. ET. That was nearly three million more than watched in 2017, when Nielsen determined that about 31 million viewed Trump’s inaugural festivities throughout the whole day.

Trump’s second inauguration, on the other hand, only averaged 24.6 million viewers across 15 networks for the full day of coverage, which was between 10:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. ET. All in all, the ratings-obsessed president attracted a television audience of nearly 10 million fewer viewers than Biden did four years ago.

Neither of Trump’s ceremonies nor Biden’s could hold a candle to Barack Obama’s first inauguration in 2009, when over 51 million people watched the nation’s first Black president take the oath of office.

Nielsen also said that the household rating, which measures the percentage of American households watching a particular program, was only 14.1 for Trump’s inauguration, which would be the lowest for an incoming president since 1969. In this instance, though, this is actually Trump’s second inaugural as he returns to office following Biden’s single term.

In general, presidents usually draw much smaller inaugural audiences if they win reelection, which has been the case since the 1980s. Compared to other presidents’ second-term inaugurations, Trump’s HH rating is slightly above that of Obama’s second ceremony — which notched a 14.0 — and easily surpasses George W. Bush’s 11.8 in 2005. Ronald Reagan, who held an indoor ceremony in 1985 like Trump due to cold weather, pulled in a 22.8 HH rating for his second inauguration.

The MAGA channel’s lead is hardly surprising, as Fox has completely obliterated its competition since Trump’s victory in November. Ratings at the other news networks have been in freefall following Kamala Harris’ defeat, with CNN and MSNBC seeing roughly half of their audiences flee.

Fox’s stranglehold on cable news ratings has become so impressive that, since the election, 500 of the most-watched telecasts have been on the network.

Fox News’ return to dominance comes four years after the conservative cable giant saw a sharp reversal of fortune. The ratings tables were flipped following Joe Biden’s presidential victory and Trump’s efforts to overturn his electoral loss. Anger over the right-wing network’s early but accurate call of Arizona for Biden prompted disgruntled MAGA viewers to briefly ditch the channel, putting the network in the unusual position of placing behind its rivals CNN and MSNBC.

During the peak of the inauguration pandemic-era festivities in 2021, those ratings trends continued as only 2.7 million viewers tuned in to Fox News to witness Biden’s inauguration, the lowest of all the major networks. CNN finished as the ratings leader, drawing an audience of 10 million when Biden took the stage.