NBC’s Meet the Press moved back to No. 1 this past week, after a brief stint as the 2nd-most-watched Sunday politics program.
The Chuck Todd-moderated program brought 3 million total viewers to NBC, +13% more total viewers than ABC’s This Week (+351,000), but only +1% more than CBS’ Face the Nation (+36,000).
MTP, which is the No. 1 Sunday show in 2019, also won in the key A25-54 demo, topping ABC by +13% (75,000) and CBS by +10% (+56,000).
An additional 840,000 total viewers and 232,000 A25-54 viewers watched the Sunday program through rebroadcasts on NBC and MSNBC.
Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan took 2nd place in the relevant categories this past week in average total viewers and in the advertiser-friendly A25-54 demo.
This Week with George Stephanopoulos finished No. 3 for the week, but leads CBS in the A25-54 demo for the year to-date.
This past week’s broadcast of Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace featured an exclusive interview with former FBI Director James Comey and interviews with House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA). The program averaged 1.39 million total viewers and 410,000 A25-54 viewers on the Fox network. The trio of cable replays delivered 2.42 million total viewers and 320,000 A25-54 viewers. Altogether, that’s roughly 3.81 million total viewers and 730,000 A25-54 viewers on Dec. 15.
When compared to the same Sunday in 2018, ABC, CBS and NBC were noticeably down: ABC was -11% in total viewers and -7% among adults 25-54. CBS was -10% in total viewers and a whopping -21% among adults 25-54. NBC was -16% in total viewers and -20% among adults 25-54.
Fox, however, benefited from Wallace’s interview with Comey. The broadcast was +1% in total viewers and +4% in A25-54 viewers vs. the comparable broadcast last year.
The numbers for Dec. 15, 2019:
| Network | Program | Total Viewers | A25-54 |
|---|---|---|---|
| NBC | Meet the Press | 2,965,000 | 645,000 |
| CBS | Face the Nation (1/2 hr) | 2,929,000 | 589,000 |
| ABC |
This Week | 2,614,000 | 569,000 |
| FOX | Fox News Sunday | 1,391,000 | 410,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI (Total Viewers and Adults 25-54); Live + SD for 12/15/19, and 12/16/18. Averages based on regular telecasts.