The Sunday public affairs shows posted solid numbers on inauguration weekend, with each delivering total audience improvement relative to the same week in 2016.
Chuck Todd and his viral “alternative facts” interview with Pres. Donald Trump counselor Kellyanne Conway provided NBC’s Meet the Press with a No. 1 finish this past Sunday, both in total viewers and in the key A25-54 demo. Sunday’s broadcast drew over 4.5 million viewers, which is MTP’s largest total audience in more than 8 years (since Jan. 4, 2009). Meet the Press also won the Washington D.C. market in total viewers for the 82nd consecutive broadcast.
CBS’ Face the Nation with John Dickerson ranked No. 2 this past Sunday, both in total viewers and the key news demo. FTN improved +2 percent in total viewers, but was -1 percent in the demo from the same week in 2016.
ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos posted year-over-year improvement in total viewers this past Sunday (+7 percent), but was -1 percent in the news demo. Season to-date, This Week is drawing its largest total audience in 18 years, and its best performance in the A25-54 demographic in 8 years.
Fox News Sunday actually posted more year-over-year improvement than Meet the Press, despite less buzz around the episode. FNS grew +11 percent in total viewers and +20 percent in the news demo relative to the same week in 2016. The program’s 2 p.m. ET cable repeat hit an all-time high in total viewers (2.3 million). The three cable repeats combined with the original FOX broadcast delivered 6,579,000 total viewers and 1,728,000 adults 25-54.
Univision’s Al Punto put up its best performance of the 2016-2017 season, delivering 1.1 million viewers, 517,000 of whom being adults 25-54. Al Punto beat Face the Nation in A18-34, and beat Fox News Sunday in A18-34 and A18-49. The episode also delivered +4 percent increase in audience from the comparable Sunday in 2016.
Note: Face the Nation’s second half-hour was broadcast contiguously across 59.8 percent of the CBS affiliates.
The numbers for January 22:
| Network | Program | Total Viewers | A25-54 |
|---|---|---|---|
| NBC | Meet the Press | 4.554 M | 1.360 M |
| CBS | Face the Nation | 4.445 M | 1.159 M |
| ABC | This Week | 3.897 M | 1.109 M |
| FOX | Fox News Sunday | 1.839 M | 604,000 |
| UNIV | Al Punto | 1.143 M | 517,000 |