Obama inauguration: potentially the 'most viewed event' in history?

Beginning tomorrow at 6:00 am EST, the inauguration of President-Elect Barack Obama will officially take over American airwaves. In addition to traditional television and radio coverage, the ceremony will be broadcast over streaming services such as Joost and Livestation, through news web sites, and through handsets capable of receiving mobile television broadcasts.

Verizon V Cast TV and AT&T Mobile TV will be broadcasting the event live to their respective subscribers, and cross-platform broadcaster MobiTV will be streaming live coverage all day from ABC News Now, CNBC, CSPAN, Fox News, and MSNBC.

The Associated Press will be offering no less than six video feeds of the festivities, and CBS News has set up "Inaugurationcast", a sub-site which will begin broadcasting at 7:00 am EST and continue throughout the day. Even Stickam.com will be streaming coverage from the famously under-dressed "Obama Girl" Amber Ettinger all day.

What has already been called the most expensive inauguration in history, the swearing-in of President Barack Obama is expected to cost between $150-160 million in total. With redundant broadcasts from every major media outlet, the inauguration will no doubt be in contention for the title of most viewed event in US television history, a record recently shattered by the Beijing 2008 Olympiad.