NEWS AND OPINION:
Squabbles continue over the number of people who attended President Trump’s inauguration. It is an inexact science. Even the National Park Service, a witness to countless large scale rallies and public gatherings, does not provide official head counts. But here is one phenomenon of note: Mr. Trump’s inauguration is a record-breaker for live online video streaming to phones, computers and digital devices — significant in an age of constantly evolving hybrid media and consumer behaviors.
Akamai Technologies — which provides delivery of video content to major news organizations, corporations, retailers and organizations around the world — has this to report: “Video streaming coverage of the 2017 Presidential Inauguration is the largest single live news event that the company has delivered,” calling the event “a new benchmark for live video traffic” which bested such events as the Rio Olympics and the 2016 Euro soccer tournament.
Their measurements are precise. The coverage reached a peak of 8.7 terabytes per second at 12:04 p.m. ET during the opening of the president’s speech, exceeding the previous record of 7.5 terabytes — Tbps — set during Election Day coverage in November. And what the heck is a terabyte? The term refers to a data transmission rate equivalent to 1,000 gigabytes — or 1,000,000,000,000 bytes — per second. In terms of an audience, that measurement translates into 4.6 million people watching the streaming coverage — about what ABC and CBS garnered during the same time period.
Among many others, Akamai provides video streaming to NBC, MTV, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., the U.S. State Dept. and six federal agencies, Reuters and The New York Post.
VIEWERS: THE NUMBERS
Ronald Reagan still holds the record for drawing the largest inaugural TV audience in history: 42 million viewers watched his 1981 inauguration, and this was before the advent of cable news channels. And this time around? Nielsen Media Research reports that President Trump’s inauguration drew 31 million viewers across a dozen broadcast and cable networks on Friday. In comparison, President Obama attracted 20.5 million viewers for his 2013 inauguration and a hefty 38 million in 2009. And a few more: George W. Bush garnered 29 million viewers in 2001, 15.5 million in 2005 while Bill Clinton drew 29.7 million in 1993 and 21.7 million in 1997.
The Fox News Channel triumphed with their coverage of Mr. Trump’s inauguration, besting rival cable news channels, CNN and MSNBC — plus the “big three” networks ABC, NBC, CBS. This is a heavyweight victory. Fox News peaked with 11 million viewers when Mr. Trump took his oath of office at high noon, and averaged 8.8 million viewers during the many hours of coverage that followed. It was also a good day for the Fox Business Network, which averaged 523,000 viewers compared to 305,000 who tuned in to watch rival network CNBC.
REALITY CHECK FOR WOMEN WHO MARCH
Many women who marched for their “rights” on Saturday in the nation’s capital lingered on the National Mall on Sunday, still wearing their pink knitted “pussy hats,” taking selfies and carrying shopping bags from the museum stores along the mall. Boston Herald columnist Adriana Cohen has a message for them, and those who marched in other cities. They have a “huge double standard,” Ms. Cohen says, starting with their willingness to overlook the fact that as secretary of state, Hillary Clinton gave her highest-paying jobs to men, and during her tenure, women only earned 72 cents for every dollar men earned.
“Under President Obama’s watch, more than 2 million women fell into poverty, according to 2014 Census Bureau reports. The Obama administration also failed to put equal pay into practice over the last two terms. But these left-wing women — with their blatant double standards — chose to turn their rage against President Trump instead,” writes Ms. Cohen.
The ladies who are outraged that Mr. Trump wants to secure America’s border have conveniently overlooked the fact that “65 nations around the world — including many of our NATO allies in Europe — have border walls and fencing aimed at keeping illegal immigrants, terrorists and criminals out of their countries,” Ms. Cohen continues.
“And when it comes to Trump’s stance on women’s issues, they outright ignore Ivanka Trump’s pledge to champion equal pay and maternity leave as well as making child care affordable. Bottom line: If you want to empower women, you need a robust economy that produces quality jobs for women. President Trump will do just that. Liberal women should stop protesting and give our newly elected president a chance,” Ms. Cohen observes.
Former presidential hopeful Carly Fiorina also had something to say about the march.
“Pro-life women were not welcome at this march. Apparently the marchers didn’t believe in the right of a woman to choose what she is going to believe,” Mrs. Fiorina told Fox New on Sunday.
PRESIDENTIAL THANKS
“From Day 1, I have felt safe.”
— President Trump to Secret Service Director Joe Clancy, during a reception for first responders at the White House Sunday.
A WISE WAIT
Pope Francis has revealed his take on President Trump in an interview with El Pais, the largest circulation newspaper in Spain. The pontiff does not appear ready to rush to judgment of Mr. Trump, who has been in office for 72 hours as of Monday.
“We must see what he does, we cannot be prophets of calamities,” the Pope said, adding, “I’m waiting. God waited a long time for me, with all my sins.”
POLL DU JOUR
• 74 percent of voters disapprove of the job Congress is doing: 75 percent of Republicans, 69 percent of independents and 74 percent of Democrats agree.
• 75 percent of voters overall say the mood in America is “everyone for themselves”; 56 percent of Republicans, 37 percent of independents and 65 percent of Democrats agree.
• 50 percent overall say they are tired of politics, and “want it all to go away”; 47 percent of Republicans, 60 percent of independents and 49 percent of Democrats agree.
• 39 percent overall say they are “energized and want to be more involved”; 42 percent of Republicans, 28 percent of independents and 49 percent of Democrats agree.
• 34 percent overall say Americans are “all in this together”; 39 percent of Republicans, 33 percent of independents and 30 percent of Democrats agree.
Source: A Fox News poll of 1,006 registered U.S. voters conducted Jan. 15-18.
• Petty annoyances, quibbles to jharper@washingtontimes.com.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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