With 6.35 million viewers, Monday’s “Today” show was its second-best outing since May 2011. (Its best came last Friday with 6.45 million). “Today” drew +1.92 million more viewers than “Good Morning America,” according to Nielsen Fast National data. Compared to the second Monday in Beijing, Aug., 18, 2008, “Today” was up +12% in total viewers. Today’s show featured Matt Lauer’s interview with Michael Phelps, the most-decorated Olympian ever.
Last week, the first week of the games, “Today” was on par with its numbers from the first week in Beijing. “Today” averaged 6.50 million total viewers for the week of July 30, 2012 vs. 6.52 million for the week of Aug. 11, 2008.
The week before the games — July 23 — “Good Morning America” won in both total viewers and A25-54 viewers for the first time in nearly 17 years.