An estimated 29.2 million Americans woke up early Saturday morning to see TV actress Meghan Markle marry Britain’s Prince Harry, according to Nielsen.
The total topped the last royal wedding, when Prince William married Kate Middleton in 2011. That event drew 22.8 million viewers.
Back when Princess Diana married Prince Charles, Nielsen only counted households. That 1981 wedding was watched in 14.2 million households on the three networks available. The latest royal wedding was seen in 23.7 million homes.
Nielsen’s total includes viewing between 7 a.m. and 8:15 am ET on : ABC (inclusive of Freeform simulcast), BBC America, CBS, CNN, CNNe, E!, Fox News Channel, HLN, MSNBC, NBC, PBS, Telemundo, TLC and Univision.
On cable, Fox News Channel’s coverage drew nearly 2 million total veiwers, topping 1.92 for CNN and 1.01 for MSNBC. In the key news demo of adults 25-54, CNN was tops with 650,000 versus 416,000 for Fox News and 234,000 for MSNBC. CNN also led in young adults 18 to 34 with 125,000.
