With the shocking and sad news of Michael Jackson’s death, the entire country and media have paid so much attention. As earlier discussed, the memorial for Michael Jackson was televised, in addition to the tickets that were auctioned off for the memorial.

Just over 31 million people in the United States watched the Michael Jackson memorial on television.

Nielsen Media Research says that’s a smaller audience than for Princess Diana’s funeral or President Barack Obama’s inauguration — but it’s still impressive in today’s TV world. Millions more watched video streams on their computers.

To make the situation a bit easier to understand,President Obama’s inauguration in January had an audience of nearly 38 million. Nielsen says 33.2 million people in the U.S. watched Princess Diana’s funeral in 1997.

But some things to take in to consideration: If they had the online streaming capabilities back when Princess Diana died as they do today, maybe she would have easily “beaten” Jackson. This is also just in the US alone where if you count the worldwide viewers.

Just look at how many people came out to watch Jackson’s funeral at places where they had viewings. On CNN’s live feed yesterday they had cameras in Times Square and Harlem and there were many viewings world wide.

Did you watch? Although I didn’t catch the whole thing, there were many moments that really spoke to my heart. I hope now with his memorial, his family and loved ones can start the long healing process.