2025-2026 Season
As the adage goes, records were meant to be broken, and that is exactly what happened in the 2025-2026 TV broadcast season ratings. NBC News’ Today ended ABC News’ Good Morning America’s 14-year run as the No. 1 morning news show, capturing the top spot in total viewers.
This was Today’s most-watched broadcast season in four years, and it continued to hold its first-place mantle in the advertiser-coveted Adults 25-54 demo, a position it has held continuously for 11 seasons.
Unfortunately for Today, it joined CBS News’ CBS Mornings in shedding viewers year over year in the demo. GMA was the only program to grow in both measured categories, while CBS Mornings was the only one to lose viewers within those two measurements.
According to Nielsen Media Research, GMA had 2.831 million total viewers and 477,000 A25-54 viewers for the 2025-2026 season. When comparing its performance to the 2024-2025 season, GMA was up +7% in total viewers and +1% in the demo.
Today averaged 2.948 million total viewers and 612,000 A25-54 viewers for the just-concluded season. The newscast grew by +13% in total viewers to take the top spot, but it slipped by -2% in the demo compared to 2025.
CBS News’ CBS Mornings finished the season with an average of 1.77 million total viewers and 278,000 A25-54 viewers. It was down -9% in total viewers and -20% in the demo vs. the 2024-2025 season—the only broadcast with year-over-year losses.
*Please note that year-over-year comparisons are based on Nielsen Big Data+Panel (2026) vs. Panel (2025) measurements.
2025 – 2026 Season (Nielsen Big Data + Panel):
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
| • Total Viewers: | 2,831,000 | 2,948,000 | 1,770,000 |
| • A25-54: | 477,000 | 612,000 | 278,000 |
Third Quarter 2026
NBC News’ Today continued its run as the most-watched morning broadcast in total viewers and the Adults 25-54 demo during the third quarter of the year.
However, ABC News’ Good Morning America closed the gap with Today in total viewers, as 45,000 viewers separated the two telecasts.
The summer news period was not as active as in previous years, with the FIFA World Cup 2026 tournament, America’s 250th Independence Day celebrations, and ongoing concerns about the American economy and what’s transpiring in the Middle East as the focus of the news cycle. This resulted in all three morning news shows experiencing declines in both measured categories.
According to the most recent Nielsen data, GMA averaged 2.759 million total viewers and 459,000 viewers in the A25-54 demo for the just-concluded quarter. Compared to the second quarter, GMA was down -3% in total viewers and -2% in the demo. When looking at the same quarterly period in 2025, GMA was up in total viewers by +6% and flat in the demo.
NBC News’ Today remained in first place in total viewers and the A25-54 demo with 2.804 million viewers and 581,000 viewers, respectively, for Q3 2026. Its performance versus the second quarter saw NBC News’ morning show fall by -7% in total viewers and -8% in the demo. Compared to the same quarterly period in 2025, it saw gains of +15% in total viewers and +7% in the demo.
CBS Mornings ranked third in total viewers and A25-54 during this past quarter. It had 1.636 million total viewers and 254,000 viewers in the demo. It was down -7% in total viewers and -11% in the demo when comparing its performance to the second quarter of 2026. Versus the same quarter in 2025, CBS News’ morning show was down by -9% in total viewers and by -15% in the demo—the only broadcast to lose viewers year over year in both measurements.
*Please note that year-over-year comparisons are based on Nielsen Big Data+Panel (2026) vs. Panel (2025) measurements.
Third Quarter, 2026 (Nielsen Big Data + Panel):
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
| • Total Viewers: | 2,759,000 | 2,804,000 | 1,636,000 |
| • A25-54: | 459,000 | 581,000 | 254,000 |
Week of September 14
Norah O’Donnell rejoining CBS News’ CBS Mornings may be what the morning broadcast needed, as it was the only telecast to grow in total viewers and the Adults 25-54 demo for the week of Sept. 14.
NBC News’ Today, which remained the most-watched morning show in both categories, and ABC News’ Good Morning America recorded week-to-week viewership loss within the two measurements.
According to Nielsen’s national live+same-day big data plus program ratings, GMA averaged 2.66 million total viewers and 443,000 viewers in the A25-54 demo for the week of Sept. 14. Compared to the previous week, ABC News’ morning show was down -3% in total viewers and -9% in the demo. When looking at how it performed in the same week in 2025, GMA grew +3% in total viewers but was down -8% in the demo.
Today finished on top in total viewers and the demo with 2.819 million and 594,000 viewers, respectively, for the week that just ended. Today was down -1% in total viewers and the A25-54 demo compared to the previous week. When put up against the same week in 2025, Today was up +12% in total viewers and +2% in the demo.
CBS Mornings had 1.694 million total viewers and 283,000 viewers in the demo for the week of Sept. 14. Compared with the previous week, CBS News’ morning show grew by +3% in total viewers and +15% in the demo—the only morning show with gains in both measurements. Versus the same week in 2025, CBS Mornings was down -7% in total viewers and -8% in the demo.
*Please note that year-over-year comparisons are based on Nielsen Big Data+Panel (2026) vs. Panel (2025) measurements.
September 14, 2026 (Nielsen Big Data + Panel):
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
| • Total Viewers: | 2,660,000 | 2,819,000 | 1,694,000 |
| • A25-54: | 443,000 | 594,000 | 283,000 |
Source: Nielsen, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 National Live+Same Day Big Data Plus Panel Program Ratings Current Week (w/o 9/14/26), Previous Week (w/o 9/7/26) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 9/15/25). Season Averages: Most Current Data Stream: 2025-2026 Season (9/22/25–9/20/26) and 2024-2025 Season (9/23/24–9/21/25). Season averages based on Big Data Plus Panel ratings start with the 2023-2024 season. 3Q26: 6/29 – 9/21/26, 2Q26: 3/30 – 6/28/26 and 3Q25: 6/30 – 9/21/25, 2Q25.
