Posted by
E. Oldham on Thursday, January 15, 2009 2:00:00 AM
In this pundits opinion , the Nielsen television rating system has become somewhat of an accurate guage of pop culture trends . These Nielsen TV. boxes , much like a standard cable TV. box are placed in key demographic regions throughout the U.S. The data collected from these devices are sent via modem to Nielsen headquarters , thus depicting an accurate "reading" of the most watched network TV. shows , sporting events , and yes every four years , Presidential inaugural events .
With 37 million viewers in 29 million households , President Obama received a 25.5 % rating on the day of his inaugural . While the impressive ratings numbers suggests that Obama would have a rather large "base" , a fundemental question is raised in my inquisitive mind . If such large numbers were put up against McCain on election day (58 million votes for Obama) , should we have expected Obama to set a new Nielsen inauguration television viewing record?. The comparisons put forth by todays media ( whom rely heavily on Nielsen ratings ) , suggest that President Obama is the second coming of John F. Kennedy . While President Kennedy was a populist President with a liberal base , he also projected many of his conservative ideals . President Kennedy did not even make the top ten in Nielsen inauguration viewing ratings .
The contrasting between Abraham Lincoln and current President Obama would not be congruent with repect to Nielsen . The association between Lincoln and Obama are being put forth in order to harmonize the nation , in hopes of continuing our ongoing healing process since the battle of Gettysburg ( july 1863 ).
Former President Carter appears in the top ten one time , Bill Clinton reaches the top ten with both of his televised inaugural events . Both Bush Presidents make the top ten ( George H.W. Bush twice , and W. appears once ). Even former President Nixon makes the top ten Nielsen inauguration ratings list .
"The Gipper" , former President Ronald Regans two inaugural events hit the list of the ten most viewed inauguations . With impressive numbers , Reagans second inaugural puts him at 7th place on the all-time most viewed inaugurations list . Twenty-five million people tuned in to watch Regans second inaugural earning him a 22% Nielsen rating . President Regan tops the all-time list with 41 million viewers in 1981 . How can an impressive 37% Nielsen rating exist for Regan without the benefit of an openly partisan media?. President Obama , with a 25.5% Nielsen rating , while extraordinary indeed , could not contend to compete with the almost in-surmountable 41 million viewers , and a 37% rating .
We can all believe hope and change will help us all , if we believe what we are hearing from todays media , and if we are to believe the "magnanimous" claims coming from our new administration . This pundit likes to live by the numbers , in this day and age with our economic woes , it's only befitting to live by the numbers . President Regan gets the "gold medal" for the most television viewers on inauguration day . With a detailed system such as the Nielsen rating wire , we can surmise that President Regan was by far more popular on inauguration day than President Obama . For our coutries sake , lets hope President Obama may strive for greatness such as this , should he earn a second trip to another inaugural . President Obama surely has an uphill climb ahead of him . Putting partisan politics aside , lets hope that in four years somebody will strive for greatness such as this .