CNN Tops Cable With Inauguration Ratings
Also Beats CBS During Obama's Oath
Linda Moss -- Multichannel News, 1/21/2009 5:20:26 PM
Among the cable-news networks, CNN emerged the ratings champ with its coverage of Tuesday's inauguration of President Barack Obama, according to Nielsen data released Wednesday.
CNN drew 8.5 million total viewers -- for the actual swearing-in ceremony and Inaugural Address in Washington -- from noon to 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, with more Americans turning to that all-news cable channel than any other, according to Nielsen Media Fast National data provided by both CNN and Fox News Channel. CNN also surpassed CBS, which was watched by an average of 8.45 million in that half-hour period.
For the swearing-in, CNN was followed by Fox News Channel with 5.5 million total viewers, with MSNBC trailing in third place with 3.1 million, according to Nielsen data.
From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday, CNN was also rated No. 1 among cable news channels, tallying 6.9 million viewers, with Fox News Channel averaging 4.4 million and MSNBC attracting an audience of 2.6 million.
For the total day of the inauguration, 6 a.m. to 3 a.m., CNN placed first again, racking up 4.0 million total viewers, versus Fox's 2.5 million and MSNBC's 1.7 million, according to Nielsen. It marked CNN's highest 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. average in its history.
CNN dominated in the key news demographic, 25 to 54, as well. For the actual swearing-in ceremony, CNN drew 3.5 million viewers in that age group, more than Fox News and MSNBC combined. Fox News had 1.7 million in that age group for the swearing-in and address, while MSNBC had 1.1 million.
From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the 25-to-54 demo, CNN delivered 2.8 million, Fox News had 1.4 million and MSNBC had 900,000.
And for total day in adults 25 to 54 Tuesday, CNN delivered 1.6 million, with Fox News drawing 749,740 and MSNBC only 610,357.
According to preliminary, internal data, CNN.com generated more than 182 million page views and served more than 36.7 million total video streams on Inauguration Day, according to CNN. Of the 36.7 million video streams, CNN.com Live served 26.9 million live video streams globally, breaking its all time total daily streaming record set on Election Day with 5.3 million live streams.
Additionally, CNN.com Live estimates it served more than 1.3 million concurrent live streams during its peak, which occurred immediately prior to President Obama's Inaugural Address.
Also, iReport.com, CNN's user-generated community, more than doubled its previous submission record of 5,100 set the day before the 2008 Election with more than 11,300 photos and videos uploaded to the site on Inauguration Day.
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