Good Morning America pulled off a significant upset during the week of Aug. 12, knocking off Today show in the race for which morning show could average the largest Adults 25-54 audience for a week.
According to the most current data from Nielsen, GMA averaged 1.07 million A25-54 viewers for the week of Aug. 12, while Today hauled 1.06 million from the same demo.
Prior to last week, Today had been the No. 1 morning show among adults 25-54 for a whopping 189 consecutive weeks. That’s every week since Dec. 28, 2015.
That record streak is now over.
GMA also finished the week of Aug. 12 as No. 1 in total viewers, though that has been the case far more often that not over the past seven years.
Was GMA’s win in the key A25-54 demo a one-off, or will this become a new trend? Hoda Kotb returns to Today on Sept. 3 after a five-month absence, which is obviously a big deal for the program and will most certainly lift Today’s performance for the demo. If Today can’t return to No. 1 this week, would one think the show will move back to No. 1 in the demo the week of the 3rd, right? We’ll keep an eye on this trend going forward.
While Today finished No. 2 across the board for the first time in ages, it’s still the dominant morning show this season among the younger demos, including adults 25-54. It has also won 12 weeks in total viewers. Last season, Today had 10 weeks of wins total, and only 66,000 viewers separate Today and GMA, which is 12% closer than the same point last season.
CBS This Morning had a nice week in its own right, posting week-to-week growth (total viewers and A25-54 viewers) and year-over-year growth (A25-54).
In fact, the 725,000 average in the A25-54 demo is the show’s largest A25-54 audience since the week of May 27, 2019.
Compared to the same week in 2018, ABC was -1% in total viewers, NBC was -7% in total viewers, while CBS This Morning was -2%. In the A25-54 demo, ABC was -4%, NBC slumped to -17% and CBS This Morning was +3% vs. the comparable week last year.
Nielsen numbers for the week of August 12:
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 3,732,000 | 3,522,000 | 2,748,000 |
| • A25-54: | 1,066,000 | 1,057,000 | 725,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 Live + SD, 2018-19 Current Week (w/o 8/12/19), and Year-Ago Week (w/o 8/12/18). Season to date: Most Current: 2018 -2019 Season and 2017-2018 Season . Averages based on regular telecasts.