Similar to its respective evening newscasts, ABC, NBC and CBS saw year-over-year viewership declines in the mornings compared to the same week in 2016.
ABC’s Good Morning America was once again the most-watched weekday morning show for the week. It also more than doubled its lead over Today from the same week last year (+101 percent, -368,000 to +183,000), and has built on its year-ago leads for the past 6 weeks. It remains the No. 1 morning newscast in total viewers this season, taking the top spot at this point in the season for the 5th year in a row. Yet, despite GMA’s victory, the program was -9 percent in total viewers and -13 percent in the news demo relative to the same week last year (week of Feb. 22, 2016).
NBC’s Today was the No. 1 morning show for the week of Feb. 20, and for the month of February 2017 among adults 25-54. Today has now ranked No. 1 among A25-54 for 20 consecutive months, 61 straight weeks and 77 out of 78 weeks, the program’s best streak in more than four years. Despite yet another win in the news demographic, Today saw a -17 percent decline in the category versus the same week last year. The program was also -13 percent in total viewers from last year, the largest dropoff of the trio.
CBS This Morning remains stuck in the No. 3 spot, but posted the least severe year-over-year viewership decline of the trio: -5 percent in total viewers and -5 percent in the news demo. Will the program get back on the right track when co-host Charlie Rose returns, presumably next month?
Editor’s Note: All three morning shows are based on a 4-day average for the week of Feb. 20 (Tues-Fri) due to the President’s Day holiday on Monday, Feb. 20.
The averages for the week of Feb. 20:
- Total Viewers: ABC: 4.614M / NBC: 4.246M / CBS: 3.683M
- A25-54 viewers: ABC: 1.503M / NBC: 1.579M / CBS: 1.079M