CBS’ Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan was the most-watched Sunday politics program on Dec. 1, while ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos reigned supreme among adults 25-54 in what was an extremely close Sunday show ratings race.
NBC’s Meet the Press with Chuck Todd finished in 3rd place behind ABC and CBS in adults 25-54, and in 2nd behind CBS among total viewers. That’s pretty rare.
However, season-to-date, MTP is the No. 1 Sunday politics program across the board, delivering its best total viewer lead over ABC in 8 years and CBS in 9 years. It also continues to win the Washington, D.C. market, winning every Sunday in total viewers for more than 4 consecutive years (since March 22, 2015).
Fox News Sunday anchored by Chris Wallace averaged 1.26 million total viewers and 375,000 A25-54 viewers. The trio of cable replays delivered 2.2 million total viewers and 356,000 A25-54 viewers. Altogether, that’s roughly 3.46 million total and 731,000 A25-54 viewers on Dec. 1.
Compared with the same Sunday in 2018, Fox News Sunday was -10% in total viewers and -12% among adults 25-54. Meet the Press was -8% in total viewers, and a whopping -20% among adults 25-54. Face the Nation was -3% in total viewers and -9% among adults 25-54. This Week performed the best relative to last year, flat among adults 25-54 and -3% in total viewers.
The numbers for Dec. 1:
| Network | Program | Total Viewers | A25-54 |
|---|---|---|---|
| CBS | Face the Nation (1/2 hr) | 3,096,000 | 673,000 |
| NBC | Meet the Press | 3,088,000 | 672,000 |
| ABC |
This Week | 2,800,000 | 678,000 |
| FOX | Fox News Sunday | 1,264,000 | 375,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI (Total Viewers and Adults 25-54); Live + SD for 12/1/19 and 12/2/18. Averages based on regular telecasts.