More Than 20 Million Viewers Watched Coverage of Inauguration

A total of 20.552 million viewers tuned in on 18 separate television networks to watch coverage of the second inauguration of President Barack Obama, the Nielsen Company reported.

The number, which measured the hours between 10 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. January 21, was down sharply from the 37.793 million Nielsen recorded for Obama’s first inauguration in 2009. That was the second-highest total since Nielsen began its accounting for television viewership of the event in 1969. The highest number was recorded in 1981 for the first inauguration of Ronald Reagan. Second inaugurations are generally watched by fewer viewers, though Richard Nixon added viewers for his second in 1973, which came as the Watergate scandal was beginning to heat up. Obama’s second inauguration fared far better than that of his predecessor, George W. Bush, which drew only 15.536 million viewers, easily the smallest number recorded by Nielsen. It was, however, slightly lower than the viewing number for the second inauguration of Bill Clinton in 1997, which Nielsen reported at 21.583 million. The audience for this year’s event now stands as the second-lowest on Nielsen’s list for inaugurations since 1969.