NBC’s Meet the Press with Chuck Todd beat ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos this past week, both in total viewers and among adults 25-54.
NBC’s Sunday show seemed to benefit from Face the Nation being preempted due to The Masters. MTP had its best Sunday since April 26, averaging 4.05 million total viewers (+16% vs. This Week), and 959,000 adults 25-54 (+39% vs. This Week)
An additional 421,000 total viewers and 179,000 A25-54 viewers watched this past week’s edition of MTP via rebroadcast on NBC.
In addition to winning the week, MTP remains the No. 1 Sunday show in 2020-2021 to date, and has finished No. 1 in both of the aforementioned categories for four consecutive seasons.
ABC’s This Week (which was anchored by Martha Raddatz) averaged 3.5 million total viewers, and 690,000 adults 25-54 on the 15th. Despite finishing runner up to Meet the Press, This Week is off to its best start to a broadcast season in 4 years.
The ABC Sunday show is giving Meet the Press a run for its money these days, cutting its season margins with NBC’s Sunday juggernaut in both total viewers (-50% – 246,000 vs. 490,000) and adults 25-54 (-21% – 80,000 vs. 101,000), seeing its tightest margin in 5 years – since the 2015-16 season.
The Fox broadcast of Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace delivered 1.6 million total viewers and 387,000 A25-54 viewers. The cable replays earned a combined 2.2 million total viewers and 403,000 A25-54 viewers. Combined with the first-run broadcast, that’s theoretically 3.8 million total viewers and 790,000 A25-54 viewers tuning in to FNS on Nov. 15.
And as mentioned, CBS Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan was pre-empted this past weekend due to CBS’ coverage of The Masters.
How did NBC, ABC and Fox Sunday shows perform relative to the prior Sunday?
MTP was +10% in total viewers and +13% in the A25-54 demo. ABC’s This Week was -1% in total viewers and -10% among adults 25-54. Fox News Sunday was +4% in total viewers but actually -16% among adults 25-54 from the previous week.
How did the Sunday shows perform relative to the comparable Sunday in 2019? Quite well, especially without a Face the Nation to go up against, and the aftermath of a wild presidential election to talk about.
Meet the Press was +18% in total viewers, and +23% in the demo vs. Nov. 17, 2019. This Week was +20% in total viewers but -2% in adults 25-54. Fox News Sunday was also +20% in total viewers and +3% in adults 25-54.
Nov. 15, 2020 Sunday Show Ratings (Nielsen live-plus-same-day):
| Network | Program | Total Viewers | A25-54 |
|---|---|---|---|
| NBC | Meet the Press | 4,055,000 | 959,000 |
| ABC | This Week | 3,487,000 | 690,000 |
| FOX | Fox News Sunday | 1,602,000 | 387,000 |
| CBS | Face the Nation (1/2 hr) | Pre-empted | Pre-emptd |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI (Total Viewers and Adults 25-54); Live + SD for 11/15/20, 11/8/20 and 11/17/19 or as dated. Most Current: 2020 -2021 Season (9/21 – 11/15/20) and 2019 -2020 Season (9/23 – 11/17/19). *Beginning 8/31/20, national ratings also include Out of Home (OOH) viewing.