NBC’s Meet the Press with Chuck Todd beat ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopolos and CBS Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan on Sunday, Dec. 6, both in total viewers (3,580,000) and among adults 25-54 (754,000).
Face the Nation’s 3rd place finish on Dec. 6 comes one week after the CBS Sunday show averaged more total viewers than its Sunday politics counterparts.
MTP averaged nearly 3.6 million total viewers this past Sunday, +4% more than This Week, and +9% more than Face the Nation. This marks MTP’s best total viewer advantage over CBS since May 31 of this year.
The NBC Sunday show also won in the key A25-54 demo, as is traditionally been the case over the past handful of years. With 754,000 A25-54 viewers, MTP beat This Week by just +1%, but Face the Nation by +27%.
An additional 467,000 total viewers and 125,000 A25-54 viewers watched this past week’s edition of MTP via rebroadcast on NBC.
In addition to winning the week, MTP remains the No. 1 Sunday show in 2020-2021 to date, and has finished No. 1 in both of the aforementioned categories for four consecutive seasons.
ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos averaged 3.46 million total viewers, and 747,000 adults 25-54 on Dec. 6. Despite finishing runner up to Meet the Press, This Week beat rival Face the Nation by its largest A25-54 victory in more than 9 months (+154,000), and posted a 4-week high in viewership. This Week is off to its best start to a broadcast season in 4 years.
The ABC Sunday show is also giving Meet the Press a run for its money these days, cutting its season margins with NBC’s Sunday juggernaut in total viewers, and seeing its tightest margin in 6 years.
The Fox broadcast of Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace delivered 1.3 million total viewers and 344,000 A25-54 viewers. The cable replays earned a combined 1 million total viewers and 155,000 A25-54 viewers. Combined with the first-run broadcast, that’s roughly 2.4 million total viewers and 499,000 A25-54 viewers tuning in to FNS on Dec. 6.
How did the big four shows perform relative to the prior Sunday? According to Nielsen most current data, Meet the Press was -3% in total viewers and -4% in the A25-54 demo. ABC’s This Week was -1% in total viewers but +1% among adults 25-54. Face the Nation was -13% in total viewers and -21% among adults 25-54. Fox News Sunday was +13% in total viewers but and +20% among adults 25-54 from the previous week.
With Americans still interested in politics post-election, the Sunday shows continue to rate well relative to the comparable Sunday in 2019. Meet the Press was +16% in total viewers, and ++9% in the demo vs. Dec. 8 2019. ABC’s This Week had a really strong week, +32% in total viewers and +21% in adults 25-54. Face the Nation, which was debuting a new studio in Washington D.C. that day, was +6% in total viewers but -3% among adults 25-54. Fox News Sunday was +3% in total viewers but -7% in adults 25-54 vs. the year-ago Sunday.
Dec. 6, 2020 Sunday Show Ratings (Nielsen live-plus-same-day):
| Network | Program | Total Viewers | A25-54 |
|---|---|---|---|
| NBC | Meet the Press | 3, 580,000 | 754,000 |
| ABC | This Week | 3,456,000 | 747,000 |
| CBS | Face the Nation (1/2 hr) | 3,274,000 | 593,000 |
| FOX | Fox News Sunday | 1,340,000 | 344,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI (Total Viewers and Adults 25-54); Live + SD for 12/6/20, 11/29/20 and 12/8/19 or as dated. Most Current: 2020 -2021 Season (9/21 – 12//6/20) and 2019 -2020 Season (9/23 – 12/8/19). Beginning 8/31/20, national ratings also include Out of Home (OOH) viewing. Prior to 8/31/20, ratings do not include OOH viewing. Nielsen ratings for This Week include additional airings in select markets. Averages based on regular telecasts.
Additionally, Nov. 29 Sunday Show Ratings:
| Network | Program | Total Viewers | A25-54 |
|---|---|---|---|
| CBS | Face the Nation (1/2 hr) | 3,774,000 | 748,000 |
| NBC | Meet the Press | 3,675,000 | 794,000 |
| ABC | This Week | 3,456,000 | 736,000 |
| FOX | Fox News Sunday | 1,190,000 | 287,000 |