John Dickerson is leaving Face the Nation on a positive note, ratings-wise, because the program was No. 1 in total viewers on Jan. 21. Dickerson’s final broadcast as permanent moderator of the CBS public affairs show delivered 3.7 million total viewers. But FTN remained No. 3 among viewers from the key A25-54 demo, behind both NBC and ABC.
NBC’s Meet the Press with Chuck Todd was No. 1 among viewers from the A25-54 demographic yet again. It was also the sole Sunday show on Jan. 21 to deliver more than 1 million viewers from that key demo.
The broadcast featured an exclusive interview with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) who stated he “can’t make that commitment at all” to fully support Pres. Trump on immigration as well as interviews with White House legislative affairs director Marc Short and Sen. Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.).
On Jan. 21, ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos finished No. 3 among total viewers, and No. 2 in the key news demo. The ABC public affairs show continues to beat CBS in the demo, and has done so for three consecutive seasons.
Hosted by Chris Wallace, the original edition of Fox News Sunday on broadcast delivered 1.59 million total viewers and 514,000 A25-54. The trio of Fox News replays delivered 3.16 million total viewers and 745,000 A25-54. Altogether, the Jan. 21 edition of Fox News Sunday posted 4.75 million total viewers and 1.26 million A25-54.
Each of the Sunday shows were down versus the comparable Sunday last year, which happened to be two days after Pres. Trump’s inauguration.
*Editor’s note: Face the Nation’s second half-hour was broadcast contiguously across 59.8% of the CBS affiliates.
The numbers for January 21:
| Network | Program | Total Viewers | A25-54 |
|---|---|---|---|
| NBC | Meet the Press | 3.617 M | 1.038 M |
| CBS | Face the Nation | 3.706 M | 821 k |
| ABC | This Week | 3.046 M | 856 k |
| FOX | Fox News Sunday | 1.585 M | 514 k |
| UNIV | Al Punto | n/a | n/a |