According to Forbes, approximately 24.6 million people tuned in across major networks on Monday to witness President Donald Trump being inaugurated for the second time, marking his unique nonconsecutive term.

The viewership spanned 15 networks, with the event peaking at 34.4 million viewers during the quarter-hour around 12:15 PM, as reported by Nielsen.

Among these viewers, Fox News led the ratings with over 10 million viewers, while ABC and NBC followed closely with averages of 4.7 million and 4.4 million viewers respectively. CBS garnered about 4.1 million, while CNN reported a lower viewership of just 1.7 million, reflecting a comprehensive analysis from The Hollywood Reporter.

Fox News claimed that the coverage was its second-highest-rated inauguration day event in history, contrasting sharply with MSNBC, which only attracted about 848,000 viewers, a significant drop from the approximately 6.5 million who watched the 2021 inauguration.

Viewership numbers were notably lower compared to previous inaugurations; in 2021, around 33.8 million viewers watched President Joe Biden’s inauguration, and in 2017, Trump's first inauguration attracted about 31 million.

Taking place on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Trump's inauguration ceremony was moved indoors to the Capitol Rotunda for the first time since 1985 due to extreme cold weather. The event saw the presence of numerous billionaires, including some of the world's wealthiest individuals such as Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg, in addition to lawmakers and all living former presidents. After swearing in, Trump addressed the crowd within the Rotunda before heading to a different location for an extended, more casual speech outlining his ambitions for the upcoming term.

Interestingly, Trump's debate with then-Vice President Kamala Harris saw a substantially larger audience, with over 67 million viewers tuning in, marking an 18% increase from his debate against Biden, where he drew 51.3 million viewers earlier.

For more insights and specifics about the event, you can follow along with updates and analysis through Forbes.