CBS’ Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan ascended to the top of the Sunday show landscape on August 5. FTN drew 2.65 million total viewers, the most of any Sunday public affairs program, and 572,000 A25-54 viewers, which was No. 3 overall.
On the downside, the broadcast was -13 percent in total viewers, and -19 percent in A25-54 vs. the comparable Sunday in 2017.
ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos took second place among total viewers for the second consecutive week, and held onto second place among adults 25-54. Season to date, the ABC Sunday show beating Face the Nation in adults 25-54 for the 3rd season in a row, and has its largest lead over CBS in the demo since the ’99-2000 season.
Despite those accolades, the broadcast was way down in the demo relative to last year (-24 percent) and -8 percent in total viewers.
NBC’s Meet the Press with Chuck Todd earned a rare third place finish in total viewers this past week, but maintained its No. 1 ranking when came to drawing adults 25-54, a spot it hasn’t given up in months.
The broadcast was down double digits from last year in the key categories, but it’s worth noting that Meet the Press was re-titled to Meet the Press-MTP due to the R&A Women’s Open Championships. The telecast is excluded from the season averages.
Fox News Sunday had a strong week by its standards. Hosted by Chris Wallace, the broadcast was flat in total viewers vs. last year, but actually posted +11 percent growth in the demo.
The cable replays delivered nearly 2.4 million total viewers, and 432,000 A25-54 viewers. Combined with the original Fox broadcast, the Aug. 5 edition of FNS delivered nearly 3.6 million total viewers and 782,000 A25-54 viewers.
The numbers for Aug. 5:
| Network | Program | Total Viewers | A25-54 |
|---|---|---|---|
| CBS | Face the Nation (1/2 hr) | 2,650,000 | 572,000 |
| ABC | This Week | 2,611,000 | 609,000 |
| NBC |
Meet the Press | 2,573,000 | 622,000 |
| FOX | Fox News Sunday | 1,191,000 | 350,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI (Total Viewers and Adults 25-54); Live + SD for 8/5/18, and 8/6/17 or as dated. Season-to-Date: Most Current: 2017-2018 Season (9/25/17 – 8/5/18) and 2016-2017 Season (9/19/16 – 8/6/17). Averages based on regular telecasts.