CBS’ “Face the Nation” was the top-rated Sunday public affairs show December 15. It was a split decision for second: ABC’s “This Week” was number two in total viewers and NBC’s “Meet the Press” was second in the demo.
Compared to the year-ago Sunday, which was two days after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, all the Sunday shows were down across the board except “This Week,” which was up slightly in total viewers (+1%).
Cable replays of “Fox News Sunday” averaged a combined 1,673,000 total viewers and 353,000 A25-54 viewers. Rebroadcasts of “Meet the Press” delivered an additional 1,168,000 total viewers and 589,000 A25-54 viewers.
“Face the Nation” is based on the first half-hour only, as the full contiguous hour aired in just 50% of the country.
The numbers for December 15:
| Network | Program | Total Viewers | A25-54 |
|---|---|---|---|
| CBS |
“Face the Nation” | 3.31M | 1.02M |
| ABC |
“This Week” | 2.86M | 806K |
| NBC | “Meet the Press” | 2.77M | 819K |
| FOX | “Fox News Sunday” | 1.30M | 509K |
| Univision | “Al Punto” | 638K | 245K |