NBC’s Meet the Press extended its ratings winning streak to 4 straight weeks at No. 1 among all Sunday public affairs shows.
Hosted by Chuck Todd, MTP delivered +20 percent more total viewers than ABC and +9 percent more than CBS, marking its 28th straight win over ABC and 4th straight win over CBS in total viewers. The Dec. 16 broadcast, which featured exclusive with Sen. Chuck Schumer, Sen. Roy Blunt and Rep. Adam Schiff also marked an 18-week high in total viewers.
MTP was also the No. 1 Sunday show in the demo most valued by news advertisers for its 46th straight broadcast.
The broadcast posted +1 percent growth in total viewers vs. the comparable Sunday in 2017 (Dec. 17), but the program continues to lose traction with younger news viewers and was -17 percent in the A25-54 demo vs. last year.
CBS’ Face the Nation moderated by Margaret Brennan was the No. 2 Sunday show this past week across the board. The broadcast posted a -5 percent loss in total viewers, and -5 percent in adults 25-54 vs. the comparable broadcast in 2017.
ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos posted a -3 percent loss among total viewers, but was somehow -29 percent in the key A25-54 demo vs. the Dec. 17, 2017 broadcast.
Fox News Sunday hosted by Chris Wallace was -5 percent in total viewers, and -14 percent among adults 25-54 vs. the comparable broadcast last year. The trio of cable replays drew a combined 2.01 million total viewers and 320,000 A25-54 viewers. Combined with the first-run Fox broadcast, that’s 3.39 million total viewers and 714,000 demo viewers on Dec. 16.
The numbers for December 17:
| Network | Program | Total Viewers | A25-54 |
|---|---|---|---|
| NBC | Meet the Press | 3,548,000 | 805,000 |
| CBS | Face the Nation (1/2 hr) | 3,260,000 | 749,000 |
| ABC | This Week | 2,948,000 | 609,000 |
| FOX | Fox News Sunday | 1,382,000 | 394,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI (Total Viewers and Adults 25-54); Live + SD for 12/16/18, 12/9/18 and 12/17/17 or as dated. Most Current: 2018 -2019 Season (9/24 – 12/16/18) and 2017-2018 Season (9/25 – 12/17/17). Averages based on regular telecasts.