The Sunday public affairs show race during the second quarter of 2017 resulted in a split decision. CBS came out the victors in total viewers, while NBC won in the key A25-54 demo.
CBS’s Face the Nation With John Dickerson once again finished No. 1 in total viewers, but was -2 percent compared to Q2 of 2016. FTN didn’t perform particularly well in the demo, finishing in third place and delivering an -11 percent decline from Q2 of last year.
NBC’s Meet the Press With Chuck Todd was by far the top Sunday show among adults 25-54, beating ABC by +25 percent and CBS by +26 percent. Despite the MTP’s sixth consecutive quarterly win in A25-54, the show was -5 percent in the aforementioned ad-friendly category versus Q2 ’16, and -4 percent in total viewers.
ABC’s This Week With George Stephanopoulos finished Q2 ’17 in third place among total viewers, and No. 2 in the key A25-54 demo. This Week has now defeated FTN for 5 consecutive quarters and 8 of the past 9 in A25-54. Despite the second place finish in the demo, This Week was -12 percent in the category compared to Q2 ’16. The show was also -4 percent in total viewers.
Fox News Sunday With Chris Wallace was -3 percent in total viewers, but actually improved +2 percent in the news demo relative to Q2 of last year.
Editor’s Note: FTN’s second half-hour was broadcast contiguously across 80.6 percent of CBS affiliates.
Q2 2017:
| Network | Program | Total Viewers | A25-54 |
|---|---|---|---|
| CBS |
Face the Nation | 3.486 M | 778,000 |
| NBC | Meet the Press | 3.333 M | 987,000 |
| ABC | This Week | 2.996 M | 783,000 |
| FOX | Fox News Sunday | 1.435 M | 443,000 |
| UNIV | Al Punto* | *na | *na |
*Al Punto ratings will be added when they become available.
In the public affairs show race on June 25th, Face the Nation edged Meet the Press for the top spot in total viewers. MTP remained No. 1 in the demo.
Each of the English language Sunday shows posted audience declines compared to the comparable Sunday in 2016 (June 26).
FTN was -8 percent in total viewers and -20 percent in the demo from last year. MTP was -10 percent in total viewers and -18 percent in the demo from last year. This Week was -17 percent in total viewers and -30 percent in the demo from last year.
Fox News Sunday, with Brit Hume subbing in for Chris Wallace, was down a whopping -39 percent in total viewers, and -17 percent in the demo from last year. FNS was preempted in several markets due to soccer. The duo of FNS cable replays combined 2.997 million total viewers and 718,000 from the demo. Combined with the FOX broadcast, the 6/25 edition of FNS pulled in 3.858 million total viewers and 1.039 million from the demo.
Al Punto hosted by Jorge Ramos delivered year-over-year audience gains among millennials (+11 percent), adults 18-49 (+9 percent) and remained flat in total viewers. Al Punto is also attracting an audience base that’s significantly younger than its English language Sunday show counterparts (49 years old vs. 62 years old).
Editor’s Note: Face the Nation’s second half-hour was broadcast contiguously across 80.6 percent of CBS affiliates.
June 25, 2017:
| Network | Program | Total Viewers | A25-54 |
|---|---|---|---|
| CBS |
Face the Nation | 2.962 M | 635,000 |
| NBC | Meet the Press | 2.948 M | 834,000 |
| ABC | This Week | 2.538 M | 620,000 |
| FOX | Fox News Sunday | 861,000 | 321,000 |
| UNIV | Al Punto* | 622,000 | 282,000 |