The first inaugurations of Presidents Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama were the only ones to exceed Joe Biden s in popularity among television viewers over the past 40 years.
The Nielsen company said that 33.8 million people watched Biden's inauguration over 17 television networks between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. last Wednesday.
Reagan's festivities in 1981 drew 41.8 million viewers, and Obama's 2009 inaugural reached 37.8 million, Nielsen said.
Perhaps most important to a former president known to watch television ratings closely: Biden exceeded the 30.6 million who watched Donald Trump take office in 2017, Nielsen said.
CNN was the most popular network for inaugural viewers, Nielsen said. Meanwhile, Fox News audience for Biden's oath of office and inaugural address was down 77% from the network's viewership for Trump.
Meanwhile, the pro football conference championship games gathered people around televisions in big numbers Sunday. Nielsen said 44.8 million people saw Tom Brady and his Tampa Bay Bucs qualify for the Super Bowl, while 41.8 million watched Kansas City beat Buffalo.
With the prime-time game, CBS easily won the week in the ratings, averaging 10.4 million viewers. ABC had 3.4 million, Fox had 2.7 million, NBC had 2.5 million, Univision had 1.2 million, while Ion Television and Telemundo each averaged 1.1 million viewers.
CNN led the cable networks, averaging 2.76 million viewers in prime time. MSNBC had 2.67 million, Fox News Channel had 2.56 million, TNT had 1.19 million and HGTV had 1.1 million.
ABC's “World News Tonight” won the evening news ratings race, hitting 10.1 million people. NBC's “Nightly News” had 8.3 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 6.2 million.
For the week of Jan. 18-24, the top 20 prime-time programs, their networks and viewerships:
1. AFC Championship: Buffalo at Kansas City, CBS, 41.85 million.
2. “NFL Post-Game,” CBS, 17.88 million.
3. “NCIS” (Tuesday, 8 p.m.), CBS, 9.64 million.
4. “FBI,” CBS, 8.99 million.
5. “NCIS” (Tuesday, 9 p.m.), CBS, 8.75 million.
6. “Young Sheldon,” CBS, 7.39 million.
7. “911,” Fox, 7.2 million.
8. “Presidential Inauguration" (9 p.m.), CNN, 7.08 million.
9. “Blue Bloods,” CBS, 6.73 million.
10. “Celebrity Wheel of Fortune,” ABC, 6.3 million.
11. “Presidential Inauguration” (8 p.m.), CNN, 6.24 million.
12. “The Neighborhood,” CBS, 6.09 million.
13. “911: Lone Star,” Fox, 6.03 million.
14. "Magnum, P.I., CBS, 5.86 million.
15. “FBI: Most Wanted,” CBS, 5.81 million.
16. “Bob Hearts Abishola,” CBS, 5.56 million.
17. “Presidential Inauguration” (10 p.m.), CNN, 5.31 million.
18. “B Positive,” CBS, 5.06 million.
19. “Mom,” CBS, 5.03 million.
20. “The Bachelor,” ABC, 5.02 million.
