Not only have ratings reports been delayed due to Hurricane Sandy, but the overall national numbers may be skewed as markets like New York and Philadelphia did not carry the morning broadcasts for much of last week in addition to the millions of homes without power.
As a result, ABC and CBS are not including the week of Oct. 29 in their season averages, but NBC tells me they are. Because of the interest across the county in the coverage of the storm, the three shows put up big numbers. Last Tuesday, “Good Morning America” had its biggest audience (6.05M) since the Royal Wedding in April ’11. CBS had its best week since the week of February 2, 2009. For the week, “GMA” led in total viewers but NBC’s “Today” came out ahead in the A25-54 demo.
“Today” was still down compared to last year while “GMA” and “CBS This Morning” saw a viewership lift: ABC was up +15% in total viewers and +11% in younger viewers while CBS was up +26% / +16%.
The averages for the week of October 29, 2012:
- Total Viewers: ABC: 5.498M / NBC: 5.267M / CBS: 3.167M
- A25-54 viewers: ABC: 2.160M / NBC: 2.168M / CBS: 1.235M