Nearly 37.8 million Americans watching at home viewed President Barack Obama’s oath of office and inaugural speech between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. ET on January 20, 2009.  This is the most viewed inauguration since the record of 41.8 million viewers who watched Ronald Reagan’s 1981 inauguration.
This is the first inaugural since Nielsen began tracking time-shifted viewing, and this year’s data is based on Live + Same Day, meaning incremental viewing during the same broadcast day is included.
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President
Date
HH Rating
Households
Viewers …

Updated 01/27: The updated %figures and chart reflect updated data relative to select West Coast markets.
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The combined overall household rating for the inauguration of President Barack Obama in the top 56 local television markets where Nielsen maintains TV meters was 30.1%.
The Raleigh-Durham market had the largest TV audience with more than 51% of households tuned in to the day’s events.