On April 26, NBC Meet the Press with Chuck Todd was able to regain the No. 1 ranking in Total Viewers, a title it held consistently in recent years, but ceded to CBS Face the Nation during the month of April.
The first-run broadcast of Meet the Press averaged 4.42 million total viewers on April 26, which is +38% (+1.214 million) more than ABC and +9% (+377,000) more than CBS.
MTP also won the Sunday show race in the key A25-54 demo, which it usually does, averaging more than 1 million viewers in that measurement. The program averaged +48% (+340,000) more demo viewers than ABC and +23% (+197,000) more than CBS.
An additional 235,000 total viewers and 82,000 A25-54 viewers watched the Sunday program through a rebroadcast on NBC.
CBS’ Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan dropped to No. 2 in Total Viewers after a monthlong streak as the most-watched Sunday political program. FTN remained No. 2 in the key A25-54 demo.
ABC This Week with George Stephanopoulos took third place this past week, both in Total Viewers and in the key Adults 25-54 demo.
Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace drew 1.58 million total viewers and 420,000 demo viewers on Fox. The cable replays hauled in 3.6 million total viewers and 629,000 demo viewers. Altogether, that’s roughly 5.18 million total viewers and 1.05 million demo viewers.
Versus the prior Sunday (April 19), Meet the Press was +9% in Total Viewers and 18% in the key demo. Face the Nation fell in Total Viewers (-6%) but held flat in the demo. This Week was also down in Total Viewers (-4%), but grew in the demo (+6%). Fox News Sunday grew in Total Viewers (+2%), but fell in the demo (-5%).
As one might guess, performance was strong relative to the same Sunday in 2019.: MTP was +38% in Total Viewers and +38% in the demo. FTN was +47% in Total Viewers and +54% in the demo. This Week was +20% in Total Viewers and +24% in the demo, and FNS was +31% in Total Viewers and +25% in the key A25-54 demo.
The April 26 Nielsen numbers for the first-run broadcast:
| Network | Program | Total Viewers | A25-54 |
|---|---|---|---|
| NBC | Meet the Press | 4,420,000 | 1,055,000 |
| CBS | Face the Nation | 4,043,000 | 858,000 |
| ABC | This Week | 3,206,000 | 715,000 |
| FOX | Fox News Sunday | 1,576,000 | 420,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI (Total Viewers and Adults 25-54); Live + SD for 4/26/20, 4/19/20 and 4/28/19 or as dated. Most Current: 2019 -2020 Season (9/23/19 – 4/26/20) and 2018 -2019 Season (9/24/19 – 4/28/19). Most Averages based on regular telecasts.