NBC, CBS, ABC and FOX’s Sunday public affairs programs all lost total viewers from the comparable Sunday in 2016.
Meet the Press with Chuck Todd managed to come out on top across the board, continuing its lead as No. 1 this season-to-date for the first time since 2010-2011. With its demo win on May 7th, MTP earned its 16th straight win in the demo most valued by news advertisers. That said, the program was -12 percent in total viewers and -13 percent in the news demo relative to last year.
Only 28,000 total viewers separated MTP from CBS’s Face the Nation this past Sunday. The John Dickerson-hosted program ranked No. 2 in total viewers and No. 3 in the demo. The May 7th broadcast of FTN was -8 percent in total viewers, and -17 percent in the news demo relative to 2016.
ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos ranked No. 3 in total viewers, and No. 2 in the news demo. The program posted double digit declines from the comparable Sunday last year, -11 percent in total viewers and -19 percent in the demo. Nevertheless, the May 7th edition of This Week delivered its largest total audience in 6 weeks, and the program is in the midst of its most-watched season since 1998-1999.
Fox News Sunday hosted by Chris Wallace was -3 percent in total viewers, but actually posted +4 percent growth in the demo versus last year. The trio of cable replays, 2 p.m., 10 p.m., and 2 a.m. ET, delivered 2.66 million total viewers and 562,000 from the demo. Combined with the original FOX broadcast, the May 7th edition of Fox News Sunday hauled in 4.08 million total viewers and 997,000 demo viewers.
Al Punto hosted by Jorge Ramos increased its total audience versus the comparable Sunday last year (+10 percent), and also posted year-over-year improvement among millennials (+6 percent) and adults 18-49 (+4 percent).
Editor’s Note: Face the Nation’s second half-hour was broadcast contiguously across 80.6 percent of the CBS affiliates.
The national averages for May 7:
Network | Program | Total Viewers | A25-54 |
---|---|---|---|
NBC | Meet the Press | 3.245 M | 963,000 |
CBS | Face the Nation | 3.217 M | 769,000 |
ABC | This Week | 3.133 M | 786,000 |
FOX | Fox News Sunday | 1.412 M | 435,000 |
UNIV | Al Punto | 787,000 | 285,000 |