Chuck Todd marked his five-year anniversary as Meet the Press moderator with a ratings win.
The Sept. 8 broadcast of Meet the Press averaged 2.91 million total viewers, +14% more than ABC’s This Week, and +6% more than and CBS’ Face the Nation. This marks the MTP’s 57th straight win over ABC in total viewers.
In addition to delivering the most total viewers, MTP also won in the demo most valued by news advertisers, Adults 25-54, topping both ABC and CBS in the demo by double-digits. 685,000 demo viewers tuned in to the Sunday program: +31% more than ABC and +14% more than CBS.
An additional 851,000 total viewers and 213,000 A25-54 viewers watched the No. 1 Sunday show through rebroadcasts on NBC and MSNBC.
Sunday’s edition of Meet the Press featured interviews with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, and Sen. Roy Blunt.
CBS Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan finished in second place ahead of ABC’s This Week in the relevant categories, including total viewers and adults 25-54. Face the Nation also tied MTP in households.
Brennan interviewed Secretary of State Pompeo and former Secretary of Defense James Mattis. The broadcast also unveiled a new 2020 Battleground Tracker poll, covered the breaking news of President Trump canceling a meeting with the Taliban at Camp David, and more.
ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos slipped to third place in the key categories this past week, after defeating Face the Nation on recent Sundays in the key demo.
Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace delivered 1.03 million viewers and 272,000 A25-54 viewers on the Fox network. The trio of cable replays delivered 1.79 million total viewers and 270,000 demo viewers. Altogether, that’s 2.82 million total viewers and 542,000 demo viewers on Sept. 8.
Wallace interviewed Sec. of State Pompeo (he appeared on all of the Sunday shows this week, including CNN’s State of the Union with Jake Tapper). Wallace also had and an exclusive with former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford who announced his candidacy for president of the United States.
Ratings were brutal compared with the same Sunday in 2018. NBC was -18% in total viewers, ABC was -15%, CBS was -15% and Fox was -25% (VP Pence appeared on FNS this time last year). In the A25-54 demo, NBC was -25%, ABC was -18%, CBS was -27%, and Fox was -29%.
The Nielsen numbers for Sept. 8, 2019:
| Network | Program | Total Viewers | A25-54 |
|---|---|---|---|
| NBC |
Meet the Press | 2,906,000 | 685,000 |
| CBS | Face the Nation (1/2 hr) | 2,740,000 | 602,000 |
| ABC | This Week | 2,547,000 | 522,000 |
| FOX | Fox News Sunday | 1,030,000 | 272,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI (Total Viewers and Adults 25-54); Live + SD for 9/8/19.