CBS’s Face the Nation with John Dickerson was the most-watched Sunday public affairs program for Aug. 14, while ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos won the key A25-54 demo. NBC’s Meet The Press with Chuck Todd was preempted this past Sunday due to the Rio Olympics, and will be preempted once again this coming Sunday, 8/21.
Face The Nation improved 21 percent in total viewers, but fell 1 percent in the news demo from the same Sunday in 2015. (The CBS program took itself out of the Nielsen average on Sunday, which the ratings measurement service allows 4 times annually.)
This Week was up 11 percent in total viewers and up 18 percent in the news demo compared to the same Sunday in 2015. It was also up from the corresponding telecast opposite the 2012 London Olympics on NBC, improving both in total viewers (+47 percent) and A25-54 (+40 percent). Gotta love this election cycle.
Fox News Sunday had the largest year-over-year improvement, up 20 percent in total viewers and up 28 percent in the demo from the same Sunday one year ago. Combined with a trio of cable replays, Sunday’s episode of Fox News Sunday delivered a total of 4.11 million viewers, 970,000 of whom were A25-54.
Univision’s Al Punto increased its news demo audience from last year by 7 percent, and continues to deliver more millennial viewers than CBS and FOX.
Editor’s Note: Face the Nation’s second half-hour was broadcast contiguously across 78.31 percent of the CBS affiliates.
The numbers for August 14, 2016:
| Network | Program | Total Viewers | A25-54 |
|---|---|---|---|
| NBC | Meet The Press | Preempted | Preempted |
| CBS | Face The Nation | 3.43 M | 791,000 |
| ABC | This Week | 3.19 M | 910,000 |
| FOX | Fox News Sunday | 1.40 M | 429,000 |
| UNIV | Al Punto | 737,000 | 341,000 |