Sunday Show Ratings: July 15

Perhaps the World Cup Final was on everyone’s mind last Sunday morning, because ratings for the Sunday shows were less than stellar.

But for the sixth consecutive week, NBC’s Meet the Press with Chuck Todd was the No. 1 Sunday public affairs show across the board, including among total viewers and in the key A25-54 demographic. It has finished No. 1 among adults 25-54 for 28 consecutive broadcasts. Compared to the same Sunday in 2017, the broadcast was -5 percent in total viewers and -14 percent in the demo.

The most recent edition of MTP featured an interview with U.S. Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman, who told Todd: “You don’t know what’s going to come out of this meeting,” previewing President Trump’s meeting with Putin in Helsinki the next day.

ABC’s This Week ranked No. 2 on July 15 among adults 25-54 and in total viewers. The broadcast was -2 percent in total viewers, and -14 percent among adults 25-54 versus the comparable broadcast in 2017. George Stephanopoulos reported live for This Week from Helsinki, while ABC News chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl anchored the broadcast from the U.S.

Karl spoke with National Security Adviser John Bolton ahead of the summit between Trump and Putin, in what ended up being an exclusive after the White House pulled Bolton’s planned appearance on State of the Union with Jake Tapper. Bolton told Karl “I find it hard to believe,” that Putin did not know what was going on with the election meddling, continuing, “that’s what one of the purposes of this meeting is, so the president can see eye to eye with President Putin and ask him about it.”

Sunday’s broadcast of CBS’ Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan kicked off with a clip from Jeff Glor‘s interview with President Trump in Scotland. Apparently that didn’t boost ratings, because the CBS Sunday public affairs show slipped to third place across the board, -19 percent in total viewers and -26 percent among adults 25-54 from last year.

Fox News Sunday hosted by Chris Wallace aired out of its normal time slot due to the France vs. Croatia World Cup Final on Fox, and it only had 77 percent national coverage. As one might expect, the broadcast was down double digits from the comparable Sunday in 2017. The trio of cable replays of FNS delivered nearly 2.4 million total viewers and 412,000 A25-54. Combined with the original telecast on Fox TV, the July 15 edition of FNS delivered 3.62 million total viewers and 802,000 demo viewers.

The numbers for July 15: