Nearly 38 million Americans watched the inauguration of Barack Obama as U.S. President on Tuesday, a total trailing only Ronald Reagan's first day back in 1981.
According to Nielsen Media Research data, an average of 37.8 million viewers watched the Jan. 21 proceedings in Washington from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on 17 cable and broadcast networks. The coverage yielded a combined rating of 25.5.
That compared with a 37.4 rating and 41.8 million viewers for Reagan's inauguration.
The numbers for Obama's inauguration are based on live + same day measurement, marking the first since Nielsen began tracking time-shifted viewing from digital video recorders.
The audience total doesn't reflect the out-of-home viewing at businesses, schools, churches, restaurants and other venues.
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