NBC’s Today had delivered a larger total audience than ABC’s Good Morning America for 7 consecutive weeks. But that weekly winning streak has finally come to an end.
GMA was the most-watched morning show for the week of Jan. 15.
Prior to this past week, the NBC morning show had finished No. 1 in all demos and among total viewers for 7 consecutive weeks, and for the first two weeks that Hoda Kotb was Today show co-anchor with Savannah Guthrie. In fact, NBC had defeated ABC and CBS every week in every key category since the departure of Matt Lauer.
Despite dropping to No. 2 in total viewers, Today posted +1 percent year-over-year growth in the category. The broadcast remains No. 1 among younger morning news viewers, including the key A25-54 demo, but was -3 percent in that measurement versus last year.
As mentioned, Good Morning America was the most-watched morning show this past week, a title it has become accustomed to holding in recent years, but failed to hold in recent months.
The program also posted week-to-week audience growth.
But despite a victory in total viewers, GMA was -4 percent from the comparable week last year. It was also -2 percent in the key demo versus last year.
With John Dickerson at the round table for an entire week, CBS This Morning posted year-over-year total audience growth: +5 percent in total viewers, and +5 percent in the A25-54 demo versus last year.
But there are a number of factors to be aware of when it comes to last week’s morning show ratings.
The last week’s ratings for each morning show are only based on 4 days (Tues-Fri) due to the MLK holiday.
The comparable week last year not only included the MLK holiday on Monday, but it also included the Presidential Inauguration on that Friday. As a result, ABC’s, CBS’ and NBC’s morning show averages were based on 3 days (Tue-Thurs), as opposed to the 4 days this year.
Additionally, ratings for last week were significantly impacted by major-market pre-emptions due to weather.
The averages for Week of Jan. 15, 2018:
- Total Viewers: ABC: 4.511 M / NBC: 4.463 M / CBS: 3.861 M
- A25-54 viewers: ABC: 1.477 M / NBC: 1.649 M / CBS: 1.077 M