Face the Nation earned its first ratings victory in the Margaret Brennan era.
Not only did the CBS Sunday public affairs show finish No. 1 in total viewers on March 18, but it also posted +3 percent total viewer growth compared to the same Sunday last year,
The broadcast opened with an interview with Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), followed by interviews with Sens. Angus King (I-ME) and Bob Corker (R-TN). CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer provided an update on the Russian presidential election from Moscow.
On the downside, FTN was -10 percent in the key A25-54 demo versus last year.
Meet the Press with Chuck Todd won the key A25-54 demo nationally, per usual, and this season it is posting its largest lead of ABC and CBS in total viewers in six years.
MTP is the most-watched Sunday show across the board this season to-date, and tomorrow (Thurs., March 22) “the longest running show in television history” will mark three straight years winning every Sunday in the Washington, D.C. market. This is a streak that hasn’t transpired in nearly seven years.
Despite a demo victory, the program was down a whopping -17 percent in demo viewers versus the same Sunday in 2017.
ABC’s This Week With George Stephanopoulos finished No. 3 both in total viewers and among the key A25-54 demo. But similar to FTN, the ABC public affairs show posted +3 percent year-over-year growth in total viewers. But also similar to FTN, the program was down in the demo from last year (-9 percent).
Fox News Sunday hosted by Chris Wallace was -10 percent in total viewers and -9 percent in the key demo versus the comparable Fox broadcast last year. The trio of cable replays delivered 2.55 million total viewers and 510,000 demo viewers. Combined with the original broadcast on Fox, FNS delivered 3.89 million total viewers and 919,000 demo viewers on March 18.
*Note: Face the Nation’s second half-hour was broadcast contiguously across 64.4 percent of CBS affiliates.
The numbers for March 18:
| Network | Program | Total Viewers | A25-54 |
|---|---|---|---|
| CBS | Face the Nation (1/2 hr) | 3.545 M | 850k |
| NBC | Meet the Press | 3.494 M | 928k |
| ABC | This Week | 3.063 M | 793k |
| FOX | Fox News Sunday | 1.347 M | 409k |