Still riding high from the mid-terms, perhaps, NBC’s Meet the Press with Chuck Todd, ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos , and Fox News Sunday moderated by Chris Wallace all posted year-over-year audience growth this past week. Not a trend we’re used to seeing lately.
Meet the Press was the No. 1 Sunday politics show on Nov. 11, winning the Sunday show ratings race across the board for the fourth consecutive week.
Not only did MTP rank No. 1 in all relevant categories, and post +2 percent year-over-year total viewer growth, but it has now also won in the influential Washington, D.C. market every Sunday in total viewers for more than three straight years (since March 22, 2015).
However, not everything was great for the broadcast. It’s still losing adults 25-54 (as are its competitors). The broadcast was -3 percent in A25-54 vs. the comparable Sunday in 2017.
Margaret Brennan returned to CBS and Face the Nation this past week, just two months having a baby boy! The broadcast held strong in second place in total viewers, and remains No. 3 in the demo. Unfortunately, FTN was down in viewers vs. the same Sunday last year, -7 percent in total viewers and -14 percent in demo viewers.
ABC’s This Week outperformed Face the Nation (717,000) by 4,000 adults 25-54, but finished No. 3 behind its CBS rival in total viewers. The broadcast, which posted its largest audience in 6 weeks, was +9 percent in total viewers but -4 percent in the key A25-54 demo vs. the same Sunday last year.
Fox News Sunday posted +16 percent growth in total viewers, but was actually -3 percent in A25-54. Like its competitors, Fox News Sunday seems to be doing OK with older viewers, but is having issues keeping the under-55 set. The Fox broadcast posted 1.46 million total viewers and and 410,000 demo viewers. The cable replays combined for 2.36 million viewers and 389,000 demo viewers. Altogether, that’s 3.82 million total viewers and 799,000 demo viewers on Nov. 11
The numbers for Nov. 11, 2018 (Nielsen Live+SD data):
| Network | Program | Total Viewers | A25-54 |
|---|---|---|---|
| NBC | Meet the Press | 3,389,000 | 896,000 |
| CBS | Face the Nation (1/2 hr) | 3,144,000 | 717,000 |
| ABC |
This Week | 3,010,000 | 721,000 |
| FOX | Fox News Sunday | 1,459,000 | 410,000 |