The estimated U.S. television ratings for the Royal Wedding are out — and they aren't terribly impressive, considering the endless attention they received. About 22.7 million Americans tuned in to watch Prince William and Kate Middleton exchange their vows at Westminster Abbey Friday morning, according to Nielsen estimates.
If (as the New York Times reported) the spectacle attracted 2.5 billion viewers around the world, the American television audience accounted for less than 1 percent of that figure.
William and Kate beat 1981's Charles and Diana nuptials in households 18.6 million to 14.2 million (although total viewer numbers for Charles and Diana are not available).
While the wedding gave the 11 networks that carried it live a nice early morning bump (Nielsen's average covers 6AM ‐ 7:15AM ET), the overall ratings suggest Americans — already fatigued by the excessive coverage leading up to the ceremony — either didn't care enough about the pomp and pageantry to get up that early, or they were watching online.
Overall, those networks — ABC, CBS, NBC, TEL, UNI, BBCA, CNN, E!, FOX News, MSNBC and TLC — generated a combined household rating of 16.0. CNN said its six hours of coverage (between 4 a.m. and 10 a.m.) delivered 1,662,000 total viewers and 714,000 25-54-year-olds, edging Fox News for first place among its cable competitors.
It was CNN's biggest morning audience since the day after the 2008 presidential election, the network said.
