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Presidential Inauguration Draws 20.6 Million Viewers
1/23/2013
NEW YORK -- Around 20.6 million people tuned in to watch President Obama’s Inauguration on television on Monday, Jan. 21, 2013, according to Nielsen. Eighteen networks aired live coverage from approximately 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The U.S. TV household number that tuned in totaled just over 16 million, yielding a 14 rating for the all-day event.
By comparison, nearly 29 million U.S. TV households tuned into the 2009 Inauguration event, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST Jan. 20, 2009, yielding a 25.5 rating. The audience totaled 37.8 million people (aged two and above).
Networks that carried 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. coverage and factored into the viewing numbers included ABC, CBS, NBC, Univision, Telemundo, Azteca, MundoFox, PBS, Fox News Channel, CNN Headline News, Fox Business Network, MSNBC, TV One, CNN, Current TV, CNBC, Centric and BET.
The networks included the 2009 full-day count were ABC, CBS, NBC, Univision, BBCA, BET, CNN, ox News Channel, MSNBC, and TVOne. Telemundo, CNBC, ESPN, CNN Headline News, MTV, MTV2, MTVTR3S contributed to the total with programming that aired between around 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. EST.
Historic ratings are listed in the table below:
|
Date (Jan. 20)
|
President
|
HH Rating
|
Total HHs
|
Persons+2
|
|
2009 – Tue
|
Barack Obama
|
25.5
|
28,906,000
|
37,793,000
|
|
2005 – Thu
|
George W. Bush
|
11.8
|
12,928,709
|
15,536,652
|
|
2001 – Sat
|
George W. Bush
|
20.8
|
21,346,400
|
29,008,200
|
|
1997- Mon
|
Bill Clinton
|
17.1
|
16,515,000
|
21,583,000
|
|
1993 – Wed
|
Bill Clinton
|
24.5
|
22,758,111
|
29,721,041
|
|
1989 – Fri
|
George H.W. Bush
|
20.0
|
18,106,000
|
23,316,325
|
|
1985 – Sun
|
Ronald Reagan
|
22.3
|
18,925,556
|
25,053,886
|
|
1981 – Tue
|
Ronald Reagan
|
37.4
|
29,100,000
|
41,800,260
|
|
1977 – Thu
|
Jimmy Carter
|
31.5
|
22,430,000
|
34,127,090
|
|
1973 – Sat
|
Richard Nixon
|
28.5
|
18,470,000
|
32,950,900
|
|
1969 – Mon
|
Richard Nixon
|
33.5
|
18,870,000
|
27,007,700
|
|
Source: Nielsen
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