Several corporate media outlets have reported that President Donald Trump’s inauguration received lower ratings than former President Joe Biden’s, though Trump’s event garnered millions of additional viewers on streaming platforms.
The New York Times, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, The Washington Times and others rushed to point out that Biden’s inaugural ceremony received an estimated average of 33.7 million views on cable networks, while Trump’s average cable viewership added up to 24.6 million. While the television viewership lagged behind Biden’s, Trump’s inaugural ceremony received 36 million views on X alone and over 5.2 million on the president’s personal YouTube page.
In addition to the president’s personal broadcasts of the event, ABC News, which aired Trump’s full speech on YouTube, reached over 1 million views as of Wednesday. CNN and The Daily Wire both received over 800,000 views on their YouTube livestreams, while MSNBC almost reached 1 million views on its full coverage of the ceremony as of Wednesday on the same platform.
The Associated Press’ YouTube livestream of the inauguration received 2.1 million views as of Wednesday.
On Rumble, Trump’s inaugural ceremony garnered 446,000 views, while the airing of the parade received 689,000 views.
The media is giddy the ratings for Trump’s inauguration are down but they only factor in traditional media.
5 million people watched it on YouTube alone.
My question is how many people watched it on Twitch, Rumble, X and TikTok.
— Insurrection Barbie (@DefiyantlyFree) January 22, 2025
Trump’s inauguration reached a peak of 34.4 million views around 12:15 p.m. on the major TV networks, while Biden’s reached 40 million and Trump’s first inaugural speech in 2017 reached a peak of 38.3 million views, according to Nielsen. The television viewership was lowest among individuals between the ages 18-34, an age group that has largely turned to digital platforms and podcast streams.
Nielsen analyzed the data from across 15 networks that aired the inauguration from 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. The networks analyzed were ABC, CBS, NBC, Merit Street Media, Telemundo, Univision, CNBC, CNN, CNN en español, FOX News Channel, FOX Business Network, MSNBC, Newsmax, NewsNation and PBS.
Cable news networks have witnessed a decline in viewership in recent years as a growing number of Americans, particularly young Americans, turn to streaming platforms and social media apps. In 2024, Fox News, CNN and MSNBC’s total viewership went down since 2020 and declined in viewership in the key 25-54 demographic, according to AdWeek.
MSNBC’s ratings plummeted by 53% immediately following Trump’s defeat of Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election, while its primetime rating are currently down 58% since the election, according to The New York Times. Since the election, CNN witnessed a 45% drop in prime-time viewership.
CNN’s airing of the inauguration reached 1.7 million viewers, down from its 10 million views during Biden’s inauguration. MSNBC, which had 6.5 million views during Biden’s inauguration, garnered 848,000 during Trump’s speech. Fox News’ audience reached 10.3 million views, similar to its viewership of the president’s inauguration in 2017.
Trump appeared on a range of podcasts during the 2024 election, most notably “The Joe Rogan Experience” after his 18-year-old son, Barron, suggested that he make an appearance on the popular show. The president has largely credited his son for going on several widely streamed podcasts that are popular among Generation Z voters.
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