Another year, another win for Meet the Press with Chuck Todd.
MTP was the No. 1 Sunday public affairs show for the 2017-2018 season, winning the Sunday ratings race across the board for the second consecutive season.
“The longest running show in television history” (two months older than CBS Evening News) beat its ABC Sunday show counterpart by an average of +496,000 total viewers (+17 percent), and its CBS counterparts by +159,000 total viewers (+5 percent) this season. The program also topped ABC and CBS in the key A25-54 demo, averaging +160,000 more demo viewers than ABC (+21 percent) and +219,000 more demo viewers than CBS (+31 percent).
But not all was spectacular for the NBC public affairs show, ratings-wise. The program was -5 percent in total viewers, and -14 percent among adults 25-54 vs. what it averaged in the 2016-2017 season, which admittedly included a presidential election.
CBS Face The Nation took second place in total viewers, and third place in the key A25-54 demo; as was also the case last season.
John Dickerson moderated the public affairs program for a good chunk of the season, before taking Charlie Rose‘s spot on CBS This Morning back in January. Margaret Brennan was named Dickerson’s permanent replacement back in February (she’s presently on maternity leave, with Dickerson temporarily taking over).
FTN was -9 percent in total viewers and -17 percent among adults 25-54 vs. the 2016-2017 season.
ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos remained No.3 in total viewers, and No. 2 in the key A25-54 demo this past season, as was the case the previous season.
ABC knocked off CBS in A25-54 for the 4th consecutive season, increasing its lead from last season by +22,000 (59,000 vs. 37,000), to its largest since the 1999-2000. Yet, the program was -9 percent in total viewers, and -14 percent in the demo vs. the 2016-2017 season.
Fox News Sunday hosted by Chris Wallace (on Fox Broadcast) was -11 percent in total viewers, and -13 percent in the A25-54 vs. 2016-2017.
Here are the 2017-2018 season numbers:
| Network | Program | Total Viewers | A25-54 |
|---|---|---|---|
| NBC | Meet the Press | 3,467,000 | 944,000 |
| CBS | Face the Nation | 3,280,000 | 714,000 |
| ABC |
This Week | 2,934,000 | 773,000 |
| FOX | Fox News Sunday | 1,365,000 | 414,000 |
Q3 2018 –
Meet the Press finished No. 1 across the board for Q3 2018, but unlike its season performance, the broadcast actually posted year-over-year audience growth in the quarter (+2 percent). MTP was still -13 percent in Q3 2018 vs. Q3 2017 in A25-54.
Face the Nation ranked No. 2 in total viewers, and No. 3 in A25-54, per usual. The broadcast was -8 percent in total viewers and -16 percent in A25-54 viewers vs. Q3 2017.
This Week ranked No. 3 in total viewers, and No. 2 in demo viewers. The broadcast posted the most significant year-over-year losses of the group, -9 percent in total viewers and -23 percent in demo viewers.
Fox News Sunday was -6 percent in total viewers, and -11 percent in A25-54 viewers this quarter vs. Q3 2017.
Here are the numbers:
| Network | Program | Total Viewers | A25-54 |
|---|---|---|---|
| NBC | Meet the Press | 3,287,000 | 835,000 |
| CBS | Face the Nation | 2,921,000 | 610,000 |
| ABC |
This Week | 2,765,000 | 663,000 |
| FOX | Fox News Sunday | 1,250,000 | 363,000 |
Week of Sept. 23 –
Meet the Press, once again, finished No. 1 across the board. However, the NBC Sunday show was -11 percent in total viewers, and -30 percent in the key A25-54 demo from the comparable Sunday last year. Whoa.
CBS’ Face the Nation barely beat ABC’s This Week in total viewers, while the latter dominated the former among adults 25-54.
Fox News Sunday on Fox Broadcast was -4 percent in total viewers and -9 percent in demo viewers versus the comparable week in 2017. The trio of cable replays posted 2.7 million total viewers and 460,000 demo viewers. Altogether, that’s 4.09 million total viewers and 902,000 demo viewers for Fox News Sunday on Sunday, Sept. 23.
Here are the numbers:
| Network | Program | Total Viewers | A25-54 |
|---|---|---|---|
| NBC | Meet the Press | 3,016,000 | 727,000 |
| CBS | Face the Nation | 2,960,000 | 600,000 |
| ABC |
This Week | 2,954,000 | 709,000 |
| FOX | Fox News Sunday | 1,386,000 | 442,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI (Total Viewers and Adults 25-54); Live + SD for 9/23/18, and 9/24/17 or as dated. Most Current: 2017-2018 Season (9/25/17 – 9/23/18) and 2016-2017 Season (9/19/16 – 9/24/17). Most Current – 3Q18: 7/2 – 9/23/18. 2Q18: 4/2 – 7/1/18. 3Q17: 6/26 – 9/24/17. Averages based on regular telecasts.