According to the most up-to-date live-plus-same-day numbers from Nielsen, NBC’s Meet the Press with Chuck Todd was the No. 1 Sunday show on Aug. 30, topping ABC, CBS and Fox in average total viewers and beating each network in the A25-54 demo.
The first-run broadcast of MTP on Aug. 30 averaged 3.05 million total viewers, which is +15% (409,000) more than ABC’s This Week. Among the A25-54 demo, the money-making demographic, MTP delivered only +21,000 more viewers than This Week, a far closer margin of victory than usual.
An additional 931,000 total viewers and 202,000 A25-54 viewers watched the Sunday program via rebroadcasts on NBC and MSNBC.
The half-hour edition of CBS’ Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan was the second-most-watched Sunday politics program this past week, averaging just under 3 million viewers. However, the broadcast finished a distant third in the key demo behind NBC and ABC, with just 521,000 adults 25-54.
FTN decided to retitle its broadcast for the fourth time this quarter, following the RNC; meaning the below ratings won’t show up in the monthly/quarterly/yearly ratings averages.
ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos averaged 2.64 million total viewers this past Sunday, fewer than what the NBC and CBS competition each drew. ABC delivered its largest margin of victory over Face the Nation in the demo in six months (+129,000).
The Fox TV broadcast of Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace delivered 1.35 million average total viewers and 400,000 A25-54 viewers. The cable replays combined for 3.1 million total viewers and 499,000 A25-54 viewers. Combined with the first-run broadcast, that’s around 4.43 million average total viewers and 899,000 A25-54 viewers tuning in to FNS on Aug. 30.
How did the shows perform relative to the prior week? Compared with the prior Sunday, Meet the Press was -2% in total viewers and -1% in the A25-54 demo. Face the Nation stayed flat in total viewers and in the demo. ABC’s This Week grew +2% in total viewers and +15% in the demo. Fox News Sunday was -2% in total viewers, but +13% in the demo.
How did the shows perform relative to the comparable Sunday in 2019? (Labor Day weekend). Meet the Press was +3% in total viewers and +1% in adults 25-54. Face the Nation was +5% in total viewers, but somehow -18% in the demo. This Week was -5% in total viewers and -8% in the demo. Fox News Sunday was +5% in total viewers, but +3% in the demo.
Aug. 30, 2020 Sunday Public Affairs Show Ratings (Nielsen, live-plus-same-day):
| Network | Program | Total Viewers | A25-54 |
|---|---|---|---|
| NBC | Meet the Press | 3,046,000 | 671,000 |
| CBS | Face the Nation (1/2 hr) | 2,988,000 | 521,000 |
| ABC | This Week | 2,637,000 | 650,000 |
| FOX | Fox News Sunday | 1,346,000 | 400,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI (Total Viewers and Adults 25-54); Live + SD for 8/30/20, 8/23/20 and 9/1/19 or as dated. Most Current: 2019 -2020 Season (9/23/19 – 8/30/20) and 2018 -2019 Season (9/24/19 – 9/1/19). Nielsen ratings for “This Week” include additional airings in select markets. Averages based on regular telecasts.