Later this week, NBC’s perennial #1 morning show, “Today” gets a new co-anchor for the first two hours, and a new co-host for the third hour as well. The on-air changes come at a time of continued strength for the show. “Today” just finished its best May sweep in 8 years. The third hour had its best May in five years. While the fourth hour of “Today” hosted by Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb had its best May ever. (FHOTS launched in Sept. 2007). Meanwhile, the No. 2 morning show, ABC’s “Good Morning America,” had its best overall Sweep in five years and best May sweep since 2005, posting the smallest Total Viewer gap with “Today” (780K) in 4 years.
Meredith Vieira’s final “Today” show is this Wednesday. On Thursday, Ann Curry takes over as co-anchor for the first two hours and Savannah Guthrie joins the third hour.
The averages for the week of May 23:
- Total Viewers: NBC: 5.99M / ABC: 5.17M / CBS: 2.67M
- A25-54 viewers: NBC: 2.72M / ABC: 1.97M / CBS: 1.07K
Averages for May 2011:
- Total Viewers: NBC: 6.07M / ABC: 5.29M / CBS: 2.66M
- A25-54 viewers: NBC: 2.77M / ABC: 2.014M / CBS: 1.07K