ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos earned the most adults 25-54 on Feb. 14, 2021, while NBC’s Meet the Press with Chuck Todd remained No. 1 on total viewers among the Sunday public affairs programs.
The ABC Sunday show averaged 760,000 viewers from the key demo, which is +190,000 more than CBS’ Face the Nation and +20,000 more than MTP. In fact, This Week earned its largest win in the demo over Face the Nation since April 22, 2018.
In addition to finishing No. 1 among adults 25-54, This Week also beat its CBS competitor by an average of +32,000 total viewers.
Additionally, This Week is cutting its season margins with Meet the Press by double digits in both total viewers (-48% – 247,000 vs. 471,000) and Adults 25-54 (-28% – 79,000 vs. 109,000), delivering its closest performance in Total Viewers in 6 years and in Adults 25-54 in five years—since the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons, respectively.
The Feb. 14 broadcast of Meet the Press averaged 3.72 million total viewers, +387,000 more than ABC, and +419,000 more than CBS in total viewers. The broadcast averaged -20,000 fewer adults 25-54 than ABC, and +190,000 more than CBS.
The broadcast led with an interview with lead impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Raskin.
An additional 225,000 total viewers and 82,000 A25-54 viewers watched the Sunday program through a rebroadcast on NBC. This past Sunday’s full episode has currently reached more than 1 million views via streaming, according to NBC News.
CBS Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan, on the other hand, experienced a less than stellar ratings week by its own standards. The broadcast averaged just under 3.3 million total viewers, but only 570,000 adults 25-54; that’s far fewer viewers from the demo than usual.
The Fox broadcast of Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace delivered 1.33 million total viewers and 339,000 25-54 viewers. The cable replays earned a combined 1.25 million total viewers and 282,000 A25-54 viewers. Combined with the first-run broadcast, that’s roughly 2.6 million total viewers and 621,000 A25-54 viewers tuning in to FNS on Feb. 14.
How did the big four shows perform relative to the prior Sunday? Most were down. According to Nielsen’s most current data, Meet the Press was down -4% in total viewers and -17 % in the A25-54 demo. ABC’s This Week was -9% in total viewers but only -2% among adults 25-54. Face the Nation had the roughest week, down -14% in total viewers and -26% among adults 25-54. Fox News Sunday, on the other hand, was up +2% in total viewers and +19% among adults 25-54 from the previous week.
With Americans still interested in politics post-election and pandemic, most of the Sunday shows continue to rate well relative to the comparable Sunday in 2020. At least in total viewers. Meet the Press grew +18% in total viewers, but was actually -1% in the demo from the year-ago week. ABC’s This Week was up +25% in total viewers and +31% in adults 25-54. Face the Nation grew +11% in total viewers but lost -5% among adults 25-54. Fox News Sunday grew +5% in total viewers but lost -5% in adults 25-54 vs. the year-ago Sunday.
Feb. 14, 2021 Sunday Show Ratings (Nielsen live + same-day):
| Network | Program | Total Viewers | A25-54 |
|---|---|---|---|
| NBC | Meet the Press | 3,717,000 | 740,000 |
| ABC | This Week | 3,330,000 | 760,000 |
| CBS | Face the Nation (1/2 hr) | 3,298,000 | 570,000 |
| FOX | Fox News Sunday | 1,329,000 | 339,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI (Total Viewers and Adults 25-54); Live + SD for 2/14/21, 2/7/21 and 2/16/20 or as dated. Most Current: 2020 -2021 Season (9/21/20 – 2//14/21) and 2019 -2020 Season (9/23/19 – 2/16/20). *Beginning 8/31/20, National ratings also include Out of Home (OOH) viewing. Prior to 8/31/20, ratings did not include OOH viewing. Nielsen ratings for This Week include additional airings in select markets. Averages based on regular telecasts.