In another blow to Donald Trump, Joe Biden's inauguration on Thursday rated higher than the former US President's back in 2017.
According to preliminary data from Neilson, 39.87 million people tuned in across several broadcast and cable networks to watch Biden be sworn in and give his inaugural address.
In 2017, when Trump became the 45th US President, 38.3 million people were watching.
The preliminary figures don't include streaming figures which are set to be released later this week.
When looking at individual channels, CNN led the way with about 10 million viewers for the half-an-hour slot in which Biden was sworn in and addressed the world. That compares to only 2.7 million on the traditionally right-wing Fox News. When Trump became President, Fox News had about 12 million viewers.
While more people viewed Biden's inauguration on television, there were far fewer people present in person than at Trump's swearing-in due to COVID-19 restrictions currently in place as well as heightened security after the January 6 Capitol attack.
Both Biden and Trump's inauguration viewership pales in comparison to that of Barack Obama's in 2009. That event was viewed by more than 51 million people.
However, Trump's press secretary Sean Spicer in 2017 would famously go on to claim that the new President drew the "largest audience ever to witness an inauguration, period, both in person and around the globe".
The New York Times said that Biden's inauguration numbers may "sting Trump".
"It was not the first time he had lost in a television ratings battle to Biden. In October, the two went head-to-head in town-hall-style events. The broadcast featuring Biden, on ABC, notched 15.1 million viewers, compared with the 13.5 million who watched Mr Trump on NBC, MSNBC and CNBC," the Times says.
