GMA Tightens The Gap With Today?

Two weeks ago, TVNewser asked: “How will GMA perform without a ‘daddy’ figure?” At the time, an e-mailer predicted that the morning show’s numbers would “plunge” when Charlie Gibson left.

But perhaps the pessimism was unwarranted. Last week was the first Charlie-less week for GMA, and Diane Sawyer and Robin Roberts managed to tighten the gap with Today, according to fast affiliate numbers. ABC averaged 4,377,000 viewers for the week, while NBC had 4,896,000 — a gap of 519,000.

> Update: 4:56pm: I should note that last week was abnormal: Monday and Tuesday were counted as holidays, so they won’t count when the final numbers come out. Also, Bush’s news conference will affect the Friday totals.

ABC was down compared to the week of June 26, when Gibson departed — but NBC was down too. Here’s a look at the week-by-week gap:

June 12: 1040k / June 19: 750k / June 26: 646k / July 3: 519k

> Also: On Friday, July 7, GMA and Today were only 164,000 viewers apart, according to fast affiliate numbers…