The opening moments of both presidencies did not attract as large an audience as Barack Obama did in 2009.
President Biden’s inaugural address on Wednesday attracted about a million and a half more viewers than tuned in for Donald J. Trump’s inaugural speech four years ago, according to preliminary data from Nielsen. Nearly 40 million people watched Mr. Biden’s address on the major cable news stations and the three big broadcast networks. In 2017,38.3 million viewers watched his predecessor’s first speech as president, the Nielsen data shows. CNN was the ratings leader, drawing roughly 10 million viewers from roughly 11:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., when Mr. Biden took center stage. Only 2.7 million watched Mr. Biden’s address on Fox News, the lowest of the major networks and a sharp reversal from four years ago, when nearly 12 million viewers tuned in to Mr. Trump’s preferred cable news network. Although significantly pared down because of the coronavirus pandemic, the ceremony had more star power than in 2017. Lady Gaga sang the national anthem, and Jennifer Lopez performed “This Land Is Your Land” shortly before Mr.
