When it comes to Sunday show ratings, Meet the Press continues to lead the pack.
Moderated by Chuck Todd, the long-running NBC Sunday public affairs show won the week of Aug. 26 across the board, it’s 10th consecutive weekly win. And with that win, MTP also clinched its 9th consecutive month as the No. 1 Sunday show, the program’s best streak in seven years.
But compared to the same Sunday in 2017, MTP was -13 percent in total viewers, and down double digits among adults 25-54.
The Aug. 26 broadcast featured exclusive interviews with Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, as well as an interview with Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.).
CBS’ Face the Nation moderated by Margaret Brennan earned second place in total viewers, and third place in the A25-54 demo. FTN was the only Sunday public affairs program to post year-over-year total audience growth, +3 percent. That said, the broadcast was -8 percent in the demo vs. last year.
ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos earned 2nd place in the A25-54 demo, and 3rd place in total viewers on Aug. 26.
This Week hit five-week highs in both total viewers and in the key A25-54 demo, but the ABC Sunday show posted double digit declines vs. the same Sunday last year in both of the key measurements, meaning total viewers and A25-54 viewers.
Sandra Smith filled in for Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday this past week. Per below, the broadcast averaged slightly more than 1.1 million viewers and 332,000 A25-54 viewers on the Fox broadcast network. Those figures are significantly down from the comparable Sunday in 2017.
The program’s trio of cable replays delivered nearly 2.2 million total viewers and 456,000 demo viewers. Combined with the original telecast, the Aug. 26 edition of Fox News Sunday posted 3.29 million total viewers and 788,000 A25-54 viewers.
The numbers for Aug. 26:
| Network | Program | Total Viewers | A25-54 |
|---|---|---|---|
| NBC | Meet the Press | 3,413,000 | 862,000 |
| CBS | Face the Nation | 3,116,000 | 647,000 |
| ABC |
This Week | 2,842,000 | 701,000 |
| FOX | Fox News Sunday | 1,112,000 | 332,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI (Total Viewers and Adults 25-54); Live + SD for 8/26/18, and 8/27/17 or as dated. Season-to-Date: Most Current: 2017-2018 Season (9/25/17 – 8/26/18) and 2016-2017 Season (9/19/16 – 8/27/17). Averages based on regular telecasts.