On Sept. 7, CBS News will mark exactly one year since its weekday morning show re-branded as CBS Mornings, with an anchor lineup of Gayle King, Tony Dokoupil and Nate Burleson together at a new studio in Times Square.
We’re nearly one one year in—and CBS News seems to be pleased with its reimagined morning show and on-air trio. Two examples: One, the network recently gave Dokoupil a new contract. Two, TVNewser obtained a note CBS Mornings executive producer Shawna Thomas sent to staff Friday touting Q2 gains in morning audience share, focusing on performance in Adults 25-54 and among various female demos.
“We grew 2 competitive share points in the second quarter in Adults 25-54 and 7 share points in women 35-44 as compared to the same period last year,” writes Thomas. “This is a very, very good thing for all of us and y’all did that. So, thank you for this and the work and the good television.”
The broadcast posted year-over-year growth among women aged 25-54 (+7%) and women 35-44 (+23%), a feat neither of its higher-rated rivals, GMA nor Today, were able to match.
Why the growth in female demos? We aren’t 100% sure. It could be the addition of Burleson, a NFL player-turned charismatic TV personality who resonated well with viewers when he contributed to the broadcast year before joining full-time in September. It could also be story selection. Perhaps the broadcast’s stories in Q2 resonated more strongly with women, which comprise a majority of the morning show audience. That could be a testament to the work of Thomas, who became the executive in charge in Feb. 2021.
To be clear, outside of female demos, CBS Mornings still lost viewers in the measurements we traditionally focus on: Total Viewers and Adults 25-54. The broadcast shed -4% in Adults 25-54, while GMA shed -10% and Today -17% vs. Q2 ’21. GMA, the top-rated morning show across the board in the second quarter of this year, only shed -1% in Total Viewers from last year, while CBS Mornings shed -8% and Today shed -9%.
Here’s Thomas’ staff memo that we obtained from a network source:
Hey everybody,
Before I leave for a little vacay, I wanted to say thank you. In the last few weeks, this team has made some episodes that I am incredibly proud of. If for some insane reason you haven’t watched the episode from the Monday after the Supreme Court’s abortion decision, I urge you too. Our stories that day were comprehensive, prepared, thoughtful and creative. It showed that we can plan and execute like pros. We were ready for a monumental moment in this country. That episode was my version of, to use a cliché that I never want to see in a script, swinging for the fences.
And today, we were able to respond to big news overseas, work a live event into the show and roll with what Boris threw at us. (And yes, I get a rush from live breaking news.)
Getting this stuff done requires our teams in London, NYC, LA and, of course, DC to work like machines while not sacrificing storytelling. I’m lucky I get to work with y’all.
AND I think our work is paying off. As I said on the 3pm call today, I am aware that I am terrible at celebrating our wins and congratulating people on a job well done. But I didn’t want to skip celebrating that in the second quarter of this year, we saw real gains in ratings share in the key demos of Adults 25-54 and Women 25-54.
Here’s how the ratings and PR teams put it when I asked them to explain it to me like I’m a dumb dumb:
CBS Mornings just ended the season and now this Q2 in its most competitive position ever – with the tightest gaps in adults 25-54 and women 25-54 ever vs. NBC and ABC.
To get more specific, we grew 2 competitive share points in the second quarter in Adults 25-54 and 7 share points in women 35-44 as compared to the same period last year.
This is a very, very good thing for all of us and y’all did that. So, thank you for this and the work and the good television.
– Shawna