During President Trump's inauguration on Monday, FOX News was by far the most-watched television network, highlighting the station's dominance in cable news and the overall decline in Americans relying on television to learn about current events. It's a sign of both.
About 26 million people watched Trump's lunchtime swearing-in live on major television networks, according to preliminary Nielsen figures. The rating figures are expected to be revised later on Tuesday and could rise.
But the number of TV viewers is down compared to the roughly 40 million people who watched former President Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s speech in 2021 and the 38.3 million who watched Trump's first inauguration in 2017. It seems like I did.
This downward trend is a large part of the country's media consumption habits, as more Americans move away from traditional television and follow major events on websites, social media, and other digital platforms. is consistent with
However, FOX News' viewership was about the same as it was in 2017. About 10.3 million people watched Trump's inauguration on the network, more than double the number of people who watched on other channels, according to early data. That number exceeded the 9.3 million people who watched the CBS telecast of this month's Golden Globe Awards.
CNN and MSNBC viewership on Mondays was significantly lower than four years ago. CNN had about 1.7 million viewers, down from about 10 million when Biden took office. MSNBC anchors lamenting Trump's return to the presidency had 848,000 viewers on Monday, according to early data. The number of viewers in 2021 was approximately 6.5 million.