For the second consecutive week, the longest-running show on television, NBC’s Meet the Press, was also the most-watched Sunday public affairs show. Not only did MTP win Total Viewers, but it remained No. 1 in the key A25-54 demo, topping ABC by +14% (+113,000) and CBS by +21% (+161,000).
MTP, like its counterparts, posted week-to-week growth. This trend makes sense considering the previous Sunday was Memorial Day weekend, and there is now increased attention on the news due to the George Floyd police murder and subsequent protests.
Compared with that Memorial Day weekend Sunday (May 24), the Chuck Todd-moderated program was +10% in Total Viewers and +22% in the demo. Compared with the same Sunday in 2019 (which was an abnormally low-rated one for all of the Sunday shows), MTP was +31% in Total Viewers and +62% in the demo.
An additional 322,000 total viewers and 132,000 A25-54 viewers watched the May 31 show through a rebroadcast on NBC.
Season-to-date, MTP is the No. 1 most-watched Sunday show across the board.
ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos beat Face the Nation by +47,000 A25-54 viewers, and got very close to knocking off its CBS rival in Total Viewers (-4,000).
The broadcast’s 3.375 million viewer delivery represents the show’s largest audience since April 12.
Compared with the previous Sunday (May 24), This Week posted the most impressive audience growth. The broadcast was +16% in Total Viewers and +27% in the demo. Compared with the same Sunday in 2019 the ABC broadcast was +31% in Total Viewers and +40% in the demo.
This Week is in the midst of its most-watched season since 2016-2017.
CBS’ Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan remained the second-most-watched Sunday show, but finished behind ABC in the key A25-54 demo.
Compared with the previous Sunday (May 24), Face the Nation was just +3% in Total Viewers and +12% in the demo; still, growth it growth! Compared with the same Sunday in 2019 , FTN was +26% in Total Viewers and +47% in the demo.
The Fox edition of Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace attracted 1.59 million total viewers and 460,000 A25-54 viewers. The 2 p.m. cable replay drew 2 million total viewers and 432,000 demo viewers. Altogether, that’s around 3.6 million total viewers and 892,000 demo viewers.
The 7 p.m. and 2 a.m. FNS cable replays were pre-empted due to breaking news coverage.
Compared with the previous Sunday (May 24), FNS was +9% in Total Viewers and +10% in the demo. Compared with the same Sunday in 2019 the program was +35% in Total Viewers and +55% in the demo.
The May 31 Nielsen numbers for the first-run broadcasts:
| Network | Program | Total Viewers | A25-54 |
|---|---|---|---|
| NBC | Meet the Press | 3,695,000 | 931,000 |
| CBS | Face the Nation | 3,379,000 | 770,000 |
| ABC | This Week | 3,375,000 | 817,000 |
| FOX | Fox News Sunday | 1,590,000 | 460,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI (Total Viewers and Adults 25-54); Live + SD for 5/31/20, 5/24/20 and 6/2/19 or as dated. Most Current: 2019 -2020 Season (9/23/19 – 5/31/20) and 2018 -2019 Season (9/24/19 – 6/2/19). Averages based on regular telecasts.