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.
At its peak, 34.4 million people tuned in to watch Trump’s lunchtime swearing-in live on major television networks, according to Nielsen statistics.
Peak television viewership was down from 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 inaugural address in 2017.
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 the network between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. ET on Monday, more than double the number of people who watched other channels, according to preliminary Nielsen data. During the same time slot, Fox News had more viewers than the 9.3 million people who watched the CBS telecast of this month’s Golden Globe Awards.
CNN and MSNBC viewership on Mondays from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET is significantly lower than it was four years ago. CNN had about 1.7 million viewers, down from about 10 million for Biden’s inaugural address. The MSNBC anchor lamenting Trump’s return to the presidency drew 848,000 viewers Monday, according to early Nielsen data. Biden’s speech in 2021 was watched by about 6.5 million people.
The 15 major networks averaged 24.6 million viewers Monday from 10:30 a.m. ET to 7 p.m., Nielsen said.
