For the holiday-shortened week, Good Morning America remained No. 1 in total viewers, while Today was No. 1 among younger news viewers, including adults 25-54.
But once again, the ABC, NBC and CBS morning shows were down year-over-year.
Compared to the same week last year, GMA was -4 percent in total viewers and -12 percent among adults 25-54. But the ABC morning show leads the NBC morning show by +63,000 total viewers (4.227 million vs. 4.164 million), taking the top spot at this point of the season for the sixth year in a row.
Today show finished No. 1 in the A25-54 demo for the 132nd consecutive week. The program was -3 percent in total viewers and -11 percent in demo viewers versus last year (week of July 3, 2017). It remains the top morning show for the season among younger news viewers, including an +11 percent advantage over GMA among adults 25-54, which is the go-to demo among TV news advertisers.
CBS This Morning was -5 percent in total viewers, and -7 percent in A25-54 viewers versus last year.
*Note: Due to the Independence Day holiday, all three programs were coded specials on Wednesday (7/4/17). In addition, CBS This Morning was retitled to “CBS This Morn” on Thursday (7/5/18) and Friday (7/6/18). Each telecast was excluded from the averages. The weekly averages for ABC and NBC are based on 4 days (Mon-Tues and Thurs-Fri), while CBS’ average is based on 2 days (Mon-Tues).
The morning shows were Nielsen-rated for 3 days the same week last year.
The numbers for the week of July 2, 2018:
Total Viewers: ABC: 3.667M / NBC: 3.492M / CBS: 2.940M
A25-54 viewers: ABC: 1.032M / NBC: 1.129M / CBS: 694k
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 Live + SD weeks of 7/2/18, and 7/3/17. Season-to-Date: Most Current: 2017-2018 Season (9/25/17–7/8/18) and 2016-2017 Season (9/19/16–7/9/17). Averages based on regular telecasts.