Sunday Show Ratings: March 17

NBC’s Meet the Press was the No. 1 Sunday public affairs show across all relevant categories on March 17, per Nielsen, marking six consecutive weeks at the top.

On St. Patrick’s Day Sunday, the Chuck Todd-moderated program topped both ABC and CBS by double-digits: +21 percent (+610,000) more than ABC’s This Week and +12 percent (+359,000) more than CBS’ Face the Nation. This marks the broadcast’s 39th straight win over ABC in total viewers and the 16th win over CBS out of the last 17 broadcasts.

The NBC show also won a Sunday show record 59th consecutive broadcast among adults 25-54, topping ABC by +28 percent (+187,000) and CBS by +21 percent (+148,000) in the category.

MTP was -1 percent in total viewers and -8 percent in A25-54 viewers vs. the comparable Sunday in 2018, which is when Margaret Brennan notched her first win as Face the Nation moderator.

There was no victory for FTN this time around. In fact, Face the Nation had the most significant year-over-year audience dropoff, -13 percent in total viewers and -17 percent in A25-54 viewers. CBS News programming sometimes receives a lift around March Madness time, which may have helped Face the Nation win the comparable Sunday last year. However, there was no March Madness to help the broadcast this past Sunday, as the tournament is starting a week later this year.

ABC’s This Week With George Stephanopoulos was -7 percent in total viewers and -16 percent among adults 25-54 vs. the comparable Sunday in 2018.

Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace on Fox Broadcast network was -7 percent in total viewers and -15 percent among adults 25-54 vs. the comparable Sunday last year.

Cable replays of FNS delivered a combined 2.44 million viewers and 429,000 A25-54 viewers. Altogether, that’s 3.69 million total viewers and 777,000 A25-54 viewers on March 17. Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and Mayor of South Bend, Ind., Pete Buttigieg (D) appeared on the program.

The numbers for March 17: