You’d expect a presidential inaugural to be a TV hit in Washington, DC, but Nielsen reports that Raleigh-Durham edged the nation’s capital with the highest Household rating for the Obama inaugural – a 51.2 HH rating, vs. 47.7 for DC. Nationally the meter-rated markets averaged a 29.2 rating.
Late yesterday Nielsen produced a national tally that nearly 37.8 million Americans watched coverage of the inaugural from their homes. That made it the most viewed inauguration since the record of 41.8 million viewers for Ronald Reagan’s 1981 inauguration.
The audience estimates in the chart below reflect coverage on a combination of 17 broadcast and cable networks between 10:00 am and 5:00 pm ET.
|
|
January 20, 2009 |
|
|
Entire Inaugural 10:00AM- 5:00PM (ET) |
Rating |
Number in Thousands |
|
All Households |
25.5 |
28,906,000 |
|
Persons 2+ |
13.2 |
37,793,000 |
Here are the inaugural ratings supplied by The Nielsen Company for its 56 metered markets.
| Rank by HH Rating | Market Name | Market Rank by Number of TV Households |
Household Rating % of TV households in market tuned in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Raleigh-Durham (Fayetvlle) | 27 | 51.2 |
| 2 | Washington, DC (Hagrstwn) | 9 | 47.7 |
| 3 | Norfolk-Portsmth-Newpt Nws | 43 | 46.7 |
| 4 | Baltimore | 26 | 44.3 |
| 5 | Greensboro-H.Point-W.Salem | 46 | 42.3 |
| 6 | Charlotte | 24 | 40.8 |
| 7 | West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce | 38 | 39.6 |
| 8 | Memphis | 48 | 39.4 |
| 9 | Richmond-Petersburg | 58 | 37.2 |
| 10 | Greenvll-Spart-Ashevll-And | 36 | 35.9 |
| 11 | Birmingham (Ann and Tusc) | 40 | 35.7 |
| 12 | Miami-Ft. Lauderdale | 16 | 35.5 |
| 13 | Knoxville | 59 | 35.3 |
| 14 | Ft. Myers-Naples | 62 | 33.8 |
| 15 | Kansas City | 31 | 32.9 |
| 16 | Philadelphia | 4 | 32.5 |
| 17 | Nashville | 29 | 31.6 |
| 18 | Columbus, OH | 32 | 31.3 |
| 19 | New Orleans | 53 | 31.3 |
| 20 | Buffalo | 51 | 31 |
| 21 | Detroit | 11 | 30.8 |
| 22 | Pittsburgh | 23 | 30.8 |
| 23 | Providence-New Bedford | 52 | 30 |
| 24 | New York | 1 | 29.9 |
| 25 | Dayton | 64 | 29.9 |
| 26 | Indianapolis | 25 | 29.9 |
| 27 | Louisville | 50 | 29.7 |
| 28 | Atlanta | 8 | 29.3 |
| 29 | Hartford & New Haven | 30 | 29.3 |
| 30 | Oklahoma City | 45 | 29.2 |
| 31 | San Antonio | 37 | 28.9 |
| 32 | Jacksonville | 47 | 28.6 |
| 33 | Cincinnati | 34 | 28.6 |
| 34 | Albuquerque-Santa Fe | 44 | 28.4 |
| 35 | Orlando-Daytona Bch-Melbrn | 19 | 28.3 |
| 36 | Las Vegas | 42 | 28.3 |
| 37 | Tampa-St. Pete (Sarasota) | 13 | 28 |
| 38 | St. Louis | 21 | 27.9 |
| 39 | Chicago | 3 | 27.8 |
| 40 | Cleveland-Akron (Canton) | 17 | 27.2 |
| 41 | Houston | 10 | 26.9 |
| 42 | Tulsa | 61 | 25.8 |
| 43 | Milwaukee | 35 | 25.7 |
| 44 | Boston (Manchester) | 7 | 25.4 |
| 45 | Austin | 49 | 25.1 |
| 46 | Dallas-Ft. Worth | 5 | 24.6 |
| 47 | San Diego | 28 | 24.2 |
| 48 | Minneapolis-St. Paul | 15 | 23.6 |
| 49 | Salt Lake City | 33 | 23.4 |
| 50 | Los Angeles | 2 | 22.2 |
| 51 | Phoenix (Prescott) | 12 | 22.2 |
| 52 | Denver | 18 | 21.3 |
| 53 | Sacramnto-Stkton-Modesto | 20 | 21.2 |
| 54 | San Francisco-Oak-San Jose | 6 | 20.2 |
| 55 | Portland, OR | 22 | 20.2 |
| 56 | Seattle-Tacoma | 14 | 18.8 |
| ©2009 The Nielsen Company | |||
