Each of the morning news shows posted year-over-year total audience growth this past week, most certainly aided by in-depth coverage of Hurricane Harvey’s aftermath as well as the approaching Hurricane Irma.
There was one constant: Good Morning America maintained its lead in total viewers, while Today remained the go-to show among adults 25-54.
GMA delivered its strongest audience figures in six months, and posted +2 percent total audience growth versus the same week in 2016. Season to date, GMA is the No. 1 morning newscast in total audience, leading Today by +197,000 to take the top spot at this point of the season for the 5th year in a row.
Today had a solid week in its own right, which included an across-the-board win on Friday. For the week, Today came within just 28,000 total viewers of GMA, its closest total viewer margin in 9 months, and posted +3 percent total viewer growth from the comparable week in 2016. The program actually lost some of its demo audience from the comparable week last year (-5 percent). Nevertheless, Today has been the go-to morning show among adults 25-54 for 89 consecutive weeks, and 105 of the past 106.
Despite a third place finish, CBS This Morning delivered the most significant year-over-year total audience improvement of the three morning shows, growing +13 percent from last year. CBS’s morning show gained +430,000 viewers compared to the same week last year, marking the program’s best total viewer delivery in five months.
Interesting, CTM posted a -3 percent decline in viewers from the A25-54 demo versus last year, meaning its audience apparently skewed older than usual.
Editor’s note: Due to the Labor Day Holiday (9/4/17), GMA, Today and CTM telecasts were coded as specials and are excluded from the weekly averages. This was also the case during the same week last year.
The averages for the week of Sept. 4, 2017:
- Total Viewers: ABC: 4.547 M / NBC: 4.519 M / CBS: 3.719 M
- A25-54 viewers: ABC: 1.490 M / NBC: 1.676 M / CBS: 978 k
*UPDATE (9/18/2017)
Nielsen released updated ratings data for the week of September 4, showing Today actually ended up winning the week across the board. The updated data shows GMA’s weekly total average -56,000 viewers, meaning Today won the total viewer race by +27,000 viewers. This marks Today’s first across-the-board victory since the week of Dec. 19, 2016.
Editor’s note: Due to the Labor Day Holiday (9/4/17), GMA, Today and CTM Monday telecasts were coded as specials and are excluded from the weekly averages. This was also the case during the same week last year.
The averages for the week of Sept. 4, 2017:
- Total Viewers: ABC: 4.491 M / NBC: 4.518 M / CBS: 3.717 M
- A25-54 viewers: ABC: 1.468 M / NBC: 1.676 M / CBS: 978 k