CBS Face The Nation moderator John Dickerson and his 100th day interview with Pres. Donald Trump dominated the Sunday political conversation this past week. Not surprisingly, FTN was by far the No. 1 Sunday public affairs show of the week in total audience, and grew +13 percent in total viewers from the comparable Sunday last year (May 1, 2016). The program also grew +10 among A25-54, but actually finished runner up in the demo.
NBC’s Meet the Press with Chuck Todd managed to pull over 1 million adults 25-54, the most of any Sunday show this past week. That said, MTP was -3 percent in total viewers and -4 percent in the demo relative to last year. In April, Meet the Press was the only Sunday show to post year-over-year audience growth, both in total viewers (+2 percent) and in the A25-54 demo (+4 percent).
With many Americans tuned into Face the Nation for the Trump interview, ABC’s and FOX’s Sunday public affairs shows posted year-over-year declines.
This Week with George Stephanopoulos was -10 percent in total viewers, and -19 percent in the demo relative to last year.
Fox News Sunday hosted by Chris Wallace was also -10 percent in total viewers, and -6 percent in the news demo from last year.
Al Punto hosted by Jorge Ramos increased its audience from the same Sunday in 2016 among total viewers (+24 percent), millennials (+16 percent), adults 18-49 (+41 percent) and adults 25-54 (+31 percent).
Editor’s Note: Face the Nation’s second half-hour was broadcast contiguously across 80.6 percent of the CBS affiliates.
The national averages for April 30:
| Network | Program | Total Viewers | A25-54 |
|---|---|---|---|
| CBS | Face the Nation | 4.080 M | 937,000 |
| NBC | Meet the Press | 3.422 M | 1.013 M |
| ABC | This Week | 2.943 M | 747,000 |
| FOX | Fox News Sunday | 1.449 M | 451,000 |
| UNIV | Al Punto | 892,000 | 413,000 |