CBS’ Face the Nation with John Dickerson was the No. 1 Sunday public affairs show in total audience, while NBC’s Meet the Press with Chuck Todd took top honors among adults 25-54 on Sunday, December 4.
Despite its win, FTN saw a double-digit percent year-over-year decline both in total viewers (-12 percent) and in A25-54 (-20 percent). The broadcast opened with an interview with Reince Priebus, incoming White House chief of staff. Donald Trump called into the program on the comparable Sunday last year, which could explain the year-over-year drop off.
Meet the Press won the demo for the 10th consecutive week. Sunday’s episode stayed flat in total viewers and improved +3 percent in the demo from the same Sunday last year. MTP has been the most-watched Sunday show in Washington D.C. since March 22, 2015.
This Week with George Stephanopoulos was also flat in total viewers, but -12 percent in the demo from last year. Growing in both measures for the 2nd year in a row, This Week continues to deliver its largest total audience in 15 years and its strongest news demo performance in 8 years – since the 2001-02 and the 2008-09 seasons.
The broadcast of Fox News Sunday was -2 percent in total viewers and -4 percent in the news demo from the comparable Sunday last year. Combined with the trio of cable replays at 2 p.m., 10 p.m., and 2 a.m., the Dec. 4 edition of FNS hosted by Chris Wallace delivered 4.76 million total viewers and 1.16 million adults 25-54.
Al Punto continues to be a Sunday public affairs program that resonates with younger news audiences. The program is attracting an audience base that is 13 years younger than the combined average viewer of its English-language broadcast counterparts this season to-date (49 years old vs. 62 years old). This past Sunday, Al Punto increased its 18-34 audience from the comparable Sunday in 2015 by +12 percent.
Editor’s Note: The second half-hour of Face the Nation was broadcast contiguously across 58.7% of the CBS affiliates.
The numbers for December 4:
| Network | Program | Total Viewers | A25-54 |
|---|---|---|---|
| CBS | Face the Nation | 3.615 M | 773,000 |
| NBC | Meet the Press | 3.55 M | 1.08 M |
| ABC | This Week | 3.21 M | 876,000 |
| FOX | Fox News Sunday | 1.72 M | 567,000 |
| UNIV | Al Punto | 961,000 | 397,000 |