Morning Show Ratings: Week of Sept. 17 & Q3 2012

By Chris Ariens 

“Good Morning America” wins its fourth week in a row. In fact, “GMA” had its widest lead on “Today” in both Total Viewers (+884,000) and younger viewers (+237,000) in more than 18 years. The week ending Sept. 21 caps off the third quarter and the ratings season for the morning broadcasts which saw “Good Morning America” overtake “Today.”

“GMA” wins the quarter in Total Viewers — the first time the show has won a quarter in more than 17 years (since Q2 ’95) — while “Today” takes the win in younger viewers with +117,000 lead. But the “GMA” win is impressive as it came during NBC’s coverage of the Olympics.

“GMA” grew its audience compared to the same week last year (+3% / +2%) while #3 “CBS This Morning” grew in Total Viewers (+3%) but was down slightly in younger viewers (-3%). The real story is how the “Today” show continues to struggle: the show is down -22% in Total Viewers and down down -29% in younger viewers.

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The averages for the week of September 17, 2012:

  • Total Viewers: ABC: 4.969M / NBC: 4.085M / CBS: 2.527M
  • A25-54 viewers: ABC: 1.913M / NBC: 1.676M / CBS: 946K

The averages for Q3 2012:

  • Total Viewers: ABC: 4.757M / NBC: 4.588M / CBS: 2.307M
  • A25-54 viewers: ABC: 1.772M / NBC: 1.889M / CBS: 870K

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