This post has been updated with final numbers from Nielsen Media Research
The numbers are in, and 24.589 million total viewers watched President Donald Trump‘s inauguration on Monday, per Nielsen Media Research. That viewership spanned 15 networks and peaked at 34.4 million during the 12:15 p.m. ET quarter-hour when Trump took the oath of office. (All times Eastern.)
Not surprisingly, Fox News led the way in viewership. According to final numbers from Nielsen, FNC saw 11.4 million total viewers and 2.4 million viewers in the Adults 25-54 demo from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
This was Fox News’ second-best Inauguration Day performance, landing behind its coverage of Trump’s first inauguration in 2017, which saw 11.768 million total viewers and 2.992 million demo viewers between 12 and 12:30 p.m.
As celebratory as Fox News numbers were, they were part of a larger viewership decline felt by the broadcast and cable news nets across the board. Viewership dropped by -27% compared to former President Joe Biden’s inauguration in 2021 and -20% compared to Trump’s first inauguration in 2017.
Biden’s inauguration was watched by 33.760 million total viewers, with CNN attracting the biggest viewership to the tune of 9.994 million total viewers and 3.509 A25-54 viewers between 11:45 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. In 2025, the network saw 1.9 million total viewers and 605,000 demo viewers from 11:30 to 1 p.m.
On a granular level, Fox News rose a massive +316% in total viewers and +361% in the demo during the 11:30 to 1 p.m. period compared to 2021. It was the only network that saw a spike in numbers from four years ago. In contrast, CNN was down by -81% in total viewers and -83% in A25-54 viewers relative to 2021, while MSNBC dropped by -86% in the former category and -91% in the latter during the same time period.
Among the three broadcast networks, ABC News had the most total viewers during the 11:30 to 1 p.m. period, with 4.9 million total viewers and 1.2 million demo viewers. The race was actually tight between the three broadcast networks as they all recorded over four million total viewers. NBC News finished with 4.8 million total viewers (100,000 viewers behind ABC), and CBS News had 4.6 million (300,000 behind ABC). NBC News was the most-broadcast network in the demo category, with 1.3 million viewers, while CBS News had 1.1 million A25-54 viewers.
But all three broadcasters were down compared to 2021. ABC News fell by -36% in total viewers and -50% in demo viewers; NBC was down by -30% and -45% in those respective categories; and CBS News dropped by -24% in both total viewers and in the demo.
Fox News continued to reap the rewards of Trump’s return to power in primetime, dominating the 8-11 p.m. period with 6.3 million total viewers and 1.1 million A25-54 viewers. MSNBC and CNN tied for second in total viewers with 1.1 million each. CNN claimed second in the primetime demo with 286,000 A25-54 viewers versus MSNBC’s 102,000 viewers.
