President Donald Trump’s inauguration numbers are in, and the notoriously ratings-obsessed president isn’t going to be happy.
Early figures suggest that Monday’s proceedings, which were moved indoors due to frigid weather, took a hefty dive—more than a third, according to Nielsen figures—in comparison to Joe Biden’s 2021 inauguration.
Nielsen found that ratings across ABC, CBS and NBC’s coverage of Trump’s swearing-in as 47th president on Monday hovered around 26.05 million viewers on average from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m (ET), reported The Hollywood Reporter.
According to Nielsen’s ratings, viewership for the two previous inaugurations—which includes Trump’s first term—fared much better. About 32 percent, to be exact.
Around 39.87 million people tuned in to watch Biden take the oath of office in 2021. A hair behind Biden, Trump’s first inauguration in 2017 pulled in an average 38.35 million viewers. However, THR reported that viewership then was measured from 11:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m. (ET).
In terms of where audiences tuned in to watch the presidential fanfare, Fox News overwhelmingly held the most viewership. During the 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. window, Fox peaked at around 10.59 million viewers, just behind its coverage for Trump’s first swearing in.
At the other networks, ABC averaged 4.7 million viewers from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., NBC averaged 4.4 million viewers and CBS averaged 4.1 million viewers. In the last positions were CNN at 1.7 million viewers and MSNBC with around 848,000 viewers, according to Nielsen.
The company’s data reveals that presidents generally draw fewer viewers for their second inauguration.
Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama all had significantly fewer viewers for their second entries into the White House, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
